rooks 


Xtf 


Two  Books  of  Parodies  by  the  present  editor  of 

Punch 

OWEN   SEAMAN 

Borrowed  Plumes 

UiA  Printing.    i6nio,  $1.25. 

Twenty-two  parodies  of  contemporary  authors.  They  cover  the 
Elizabeths  of  the  German  Garden  and  of  the  Visits,  "  John  Oliver 
Hobbes,"  Caine,  Corelli,  Harland,  Hewlett,  Meredith,  Lubbock,  Mrs. 
Ward,  Henry  James,  Maeterlinck,  Shaw,  Stephen  Phillips,  and  others. 

N.  Y.  Tribune:— '■'■  He  delights  us  without  recalling  any  master  of 
the  art  (parody)  whatever.  If  we  think  of  Thackeray  or  Bret  Harte 
in  perusing  this  little  volume,  it  is  only  to  reflect  that  they  would,  in 
all  probability,  have  gladly  taken  him  into  their  company.  .  .  .  Why 
he  could  not  have  written  all  of  the  works  of  the  authors  he  parodies 
it  is  difficult  to  see,  for  he  seems  invariably  to  get  inside  of  them,  to 
write  as  though  with  their  hands  and  from  their  brains." 

A  Harvest  of  Chaff 

$1.25  net.    (By  mail,  $1.  35.) 

Parodies,  by  "  the  Baron  de  Bookworms  "  of  Punchy  in  the  main,  of 
Victorian  poets.  Kipling,  Austin,  Wordsworth,  Browning,  Byron,  and 
Morris  are  among  his  victims,  while  Wagner's  alliterative  verse  in  the 
"  Ring  "  is  also  delightfully  burlesqued  in  a  dialogue  between  two 
fashionable  Londoners  of  to-day. 

To  these  are  appended  some  effective  serious  poems — "Lines  In 
Memoriam  "  to  Queen  Victoria,  John  Ruskin,  Sir  Arthur  Sullivan, 
Cecil  Rhodes,  and  Pope  Leo  XIII. 

N.  Y.  Tribune:—^''  Seaman  has  carried  on  in  verse  the  tradition  of 
Calverley  and  Stephen,  enriching  it  with  qualities  of  his  own." 

St,  James's  Gaz^/^*  (London):— "  In  his  most  unguarded  moments  you 
never  catch  Mr.  Seaman  without  the  apt  verse,  the  whimsical  turn  of 
thought  ...  he  stands  so  far  at  the  head  of  living  parodists." 

N.  Y.  Evening-  Sun ;— *'  It  has  a  lot  of  good  things  in  it." 

Henry     Holt     and      Company 

29  W.  23d  St.  New  York 


>    .    '    i    J, 


• ••    -•- 


r 


By  kind  permission  of  "  The  Illustrated  London  News 
SHIRLEY     BROOKS 


Shirley   Brooks 
of  Punch 

HIS  LIFE,  LETTERS,  AND  DIARIES 


GEORGE    SOMES    LAYARD 

Author  of  •'  Charles  Keetu  of  <■  Punch;  "  etc. 


WITH  DECORATIVE  INITIALS  AND  BIGHT  ILLUSTRATIONS 


NEW  YORK 

HENRY   HOLT  AND   COMPANY 

1907 


I  Dedicate  this 

Book 

TO  MY  Friend 

Marion  H.  Spielmann 


255118  -^ 


Preface 


UTY  and  pleasure  demand 
a  word  of  thanks  to 
those  who  have  lent 
their  co-operation  in  the 
production  of  this  book. 
First  and  foremost  must 
be  mentioned  Mr.  Henry 
Silver,  an  early  friend 
and  colleague  of  the  sub- 
ject of  this  Biography, 
lacking  whose  generous 
contributions  this  volume 
would  be  shorn  of  a  great 
part  of  the  value  which 
I  hope  it  may  possess. 
Next  must  be  mentioned 
my  friend,  Mr.  M.  H.  Spielmann,  without  whose 
''  History  of  Punch  **  the  biographer  of  a  Punch  man 
would  be  like  a  sailor  in  an  oarless  boat  on  an 
uncharted  sea.  Others  whom  I  cannot  sufficiently 
thank  are  Mr.  H.  C.  Venning,  Lieut. -Colonel  Gaskell, 
Mrs.  Jopling  Rowe,  Mr.  Frith,  R.A.,  Sir  Francis 
Burnand,  Miss  Fergusson,  Mr.  Herbert  Jones  of 
Oswestry,  the  Messrs.  Roche,  the  well-known  London 
booksellers,  Messrs.  Macmillan  &  Co.,  Miss  Matthews, 


PREFACE 

Lady  Romer,  Mr.  J.  Parry  Jones,  Mrs.  Panton,  Miss 
Nathalie  Brooks,  Mr.  Charles  W.  Brooks,  Mr.  H.  W. 
Sabine,  Mr.  G.  Goodman,  Miss  Ellen  Terry,  Mr.  Sidney 
Jennings,  Mr.  W.  L.  Fleming,  Mr.  Donald  Masson,  Lady 
Hardman,  Miss  Ella  Hepworth  Dixon,  Mr.  James 
Murren,  Mr.  William  Downing,  Mr.  W.  H.  Doeg, 
Mr.  Florian  Williams,  Mr.  C.  L.  Graves,  Mr.  George 
Dunlop,  Mr.  A.  Abrahams,  Mr.  du  Maurier,  Miss 
Oakley,  Dr.  E.  S.  Tait,  my  friend,  Mr.  Walter  Frith, 
who  has  most  kindly  looked  through  my  proofs,  and, 
last  but  not  least,  the  Proprietors  of  Punch,  who, 
besides  putting  letters  at  my  disposal,  have  generously 
given  me  permission  to  make  use  of  the  delightful 
initial  letters  which  adorn  these  pages.  In  conclusion, 
I  should  be  wanting  in  common  gratitude  were  I 
not  to  put  on  record  the  invaluable  secretarial  help 
I  have  received  from  Miss  Marion  Christ opherson. 

G.  S.  Layard. 

BulVs  Cliff, 

Felixstowe,  1907. 


VI 


Contents 


CHAPTER    I 

PAGE 

1815-1835— Birth— Scheme    of    Book— Early    Influences— 

Oswestry — Law  Studies         . .  . .  . .  . .         1 

CHAPTER   H 

1835-1850 — The  Beginning  of  his  Literary  Life — The  Argus, 
AinswortWs  Magazine,  and  the  Illustrated  London  News — 
A  Freemason — Cruikshank's  Table  Book — Friendship  with 
Sala — ^The  Era,  the  Man  in  the  Moon — Shirley  as  "  Poet  "      26 

CHAPTER   HI 

Morning  Chronicle — "  Russians  of  the  South  " — As  Theatrical 

Critic — "  A  Story  with  a  Vengeance  " — Angus  Reach      . .       56 

CHAPTER   IV 
Appearance — As  Conversationalist  . .  . .  . .       68 

CHAPTER  V 

Characteristics  (continued) — Love  for  Children — Sympathy — 
Birthdays — Generosity — Modesty — Industry — Writing  to 
the  Papers — Dreams — As  Letter- writer — **  Alton  Locke  "      85 

CHAPTER  VI 
Punch  and  the  Punch  Table       . .  . .  . .  . .     100 

CHAPTER  VII 
The  Punch  Table  (continued)— The  **  Essence  of  Parliament  "     113 

vii 


CONTENTS 
CHAPTER  VIII 


PAGE 


1852-1854 — "  A  Story  with  a  Vengeance  " — "  Aspen  Court  " 
— Bentley's  Miscellany — Marriage  with  Miss  Emily 
Walkinshaw — Clubs — Birth  of  his  Sons  and  their  Fate  . .     124 

CHAPTER   IX 

1853-1856— The  Crimea—"  Dagon  "— Percival  Leigh- 
Horace  Mayhew — "  The  Gordian  Knot  " — Generous  Help 
from  Messrs.  Bradbury  &  Evans — Story  of  Spurgeon — 
"  Poem  by  a  Perfectly  Furious  Academician " — ^The 
Deceased  Wife's  Sister — An  Armed  Passage  with  Richard 
Bentley— Mr.  W.  P.  Frith—"  Cottle  " . .  . .  . .     135 

CHAPTER  X 

1857-1860 — Tennyson's  Bust  and  Trinity  College,  Cambridge 
— "  The  British  Lion's  Vengeance  on  the  Bengal  Tiger  " — 
"  Amusing  Poetry  " — Death  of  Douglas  Jerrold — John 
Cordy  Jeaffreson — Birth  of  Cecil  Brooks — Autograph 
Hunters — Shirley's  Bust  in  the  Academy — Once  a  Week — 
Napoleon  III  as  the  "  French  Porcupine  " — Death  of 
Macaulay  —  Percival  Leigh  —  Spiritualism  —  Shirley  as 
Lecturer — The  Volunteer  Association — "  The  Silver  Cord  " 
— His  Shortcomings  as  Novelist — ^Thackeray — Miss  Annie 
Thackeray  (Mrs.  Ritchie)       . .  . .  . .  . .     154 

CHAPTER  XI 

1861-1863—6  Kent  Terrace— Harriet  Martineau— Literary 
Pensions — "  Poet  "  Close — Holywell  Street — ^The  Prince 
Consort—"  Timour  the  Tartar  "— "  The  Card  Basket  "— 
Letters — "  Sooner  or  Later  " — ^Why  Shirley  Failed  as 
Novehst — Nursery  Rhymes — The  Musical  World — Death 
of  Thackeray— Bust  in  Westminster  Abbey      . .  . .     180 

CHAPTER   XII 

1864 — ^The  Shakespeare  Tercentenary — A  Royal  Recluse — 
"  Judy  Parties  "—Letters— The  Autograph  Fiend— The 

viii 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 


Anglo-Danish  Question — Gout — Hymn  to  St.  Trophimus 
— "  Sooner  or  Later  " — A  "  Breeze  "  with  Messrs. 
Bradbury  &  Evans — Illness  and  Death  of  Leech — Advent 
of  du  Maiurier  to  the  Table 208 

CHAPTER  Xni 

1865 — The  Diaries — ^The  Christening  of  the  Two  Boys — Death 
of  Abraham  Lincoln — Punch's  Great  Recantation  and  the 
Question  of  its  Authorship    . .  . .  . .  . .     227 

CHAPTER  XIV 

1865  (continued)  and  1866— Health— Earnings— Work— The 
Leigh  Murray  Benefit — At  Scarborough  with  the  Friths — 
Punch's  "  Table  Talk  " — Death  of  Lord  Palmerston — The 
Agnews — Lectures  at  Oswestry — The  Year's  Earnings — 
Letters  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Frith — The  Censorship  of  Plays — 
Artemus  Ward — Letters  to  Percival  Leigh — Punch's 
Golden  Wedding — Governor  Eyre — Boulogne — Dieppe — 
C.  H.  Bennett— Parting  Kick  to  1866. .  . .  . .     249 

CHAPTER  XV 

1867-1868— The  Tomahawk— T>Q2^.\i  of  Charles  Bennett- 
Summer  Holidays — Letters  to  Bradbury — Letters  to 
Mr.  Frith — Ramsgate — Home  News — Letters  to  P.  Leigh 
and  Mrs.  George — "  Ponny  "  Mayhew's  Dinner — Mrs. 
Frank  Romer  (Mrs.  Jopling  Rowe) — Letters  to  P.  Leigh  . .     296 

CHAPTER  XVI 

1869 — Diary,  et  passim — Financial  Position — Letters — 
Mr.  Levy's  Party — Linley  Sambourne — Harriet  Martineau's 
"  Biographical  Sketches  " — J.  R.  Robinson — Ernest 
Jones,  Chartist — Death  of  Keeley — Cartoons — Gout — 
Mrs.  Frank  Romer — Royal  Academy  Dinner — Hieroglyphic 
Letter  from  du  Maurier — Percival  Leigh — Lord  Derby — 
Alex.  Munro — Lord  Lytton — Grisi — ^A  Sharp  Warning — 
lUness 322 


CONTENTS 
CHAPTER  XVII 


PAGE 


1870 — Last  Days  of  Mark  Lemon — His  Death — Editorship  of 
Punch  Offered  to  S.  B.  and  Accepted — Death  of  Charles 
Dickens — S.  B.'s  Inauguration — "  Gone  ad  majores,''  1870    387 

CHAPTER  XVIII 

1871 — Mrs.  Lynn  Linton's  Contribution  to  Punch — Letters  to 
Miss  Matthews  and  W.  Hepworth  Dixon — ^The  Germans 
Enter  Paris — Mrs.  Lemon's  Pension — The  Census — Private 
View  of  the  Royal  Academy — Letters  to  Percival  Leigh — 
The  Tichborne  Case — A  Large  Evening  Party  at  6  Kent 
Terrace — George  Biddell  Airy — A  Punch  Dinner  at  10 
Bouverie  Street — Walter  Scott  Centenary — Harrogate — 
Letters  to  Percival  Leigh,  W.  H.  Bradbury,  du  Maurier, 
Mrs.  F.  Romer,  and  Mrs.  Hardman — ^Serious  lUness  of  the 
Prince  of  Wales — "  Bomhastes  Furioso  "  .  .  .  .     434 

CHAPTER  XIX 

1872  and  1873— A  Fellow  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries- 
Letters  to  Miss  Matthews  and  G.  du  Maurier — Harrogate 
and  the  Rev.  John  Oakley — Serious  Illness  of  Reginald — 
Letters  to  the  Rev.  John  Oakley,  Mrs.  Hardman,  Miss  Kate 
Fergusson  and  Percival  Leigh — Visit  to  Gadshill — 
Copyright  Reform — Prize-giving  at  the  International 
College — Folkestone  and  Brighton  Visits — Death  of 
Landseer — "  A  Birthday  Acrostic  "  to  Miss  Kate  Fergusson 
— "  A  Breeze  "  with  the  Management  of  the  Illustrated 
London  News — The  Last  New  Year's  Eve  Festivities       . .     506 

CHAPTER  XX 
1874— Last  Days— Death  ..  ..  ..  ..578 


Illustrations 

SHIRLEY  BROOKS       .....    Frofitispiecc 

THE   BRITISH  LION 'S   VENGEANCE  ON  THE   BENGAL  TIGER 

Facing  page     156 

BRITANNIA  SYMPATHIZES   WITH  COLUMBIA        .  „  242 

GROUP    OF    THE     PERFORMERS     IN     THE      CHARLES      BENNETT 

"  BENEFIT "        .  .  .  .        Facing  page    298 

REBUS    LETTER    FROM    DU    MAURIER    TO    SHIRLEY    BROOKS    IN 

THE  POSSESSION  OF  THE  BIOGRAPHER     .        Facing  page    351 

MARK  LEMON   AND   SHIRLEY   BROOKS.  .  .       „  377 

SHIRLEY  BROOKS  ....  „  459 

INITIAL  LETTER,  CUT  FROM  THE  PAGES  OF  **  PUNCH,"  FOUND 
PASTED  IN  SHIRLEY'S  DIARY  FOR  1873,  WITH  THE 
IDENTIFICATIONS     OF      THE     PORTRAITS      ADDED     IN     HIS 

HANDWRITING       ....        Facing  page    560 


XI 


GREAT    "PUNCH"    EDITOR 


7(7 


CHAPTER  I 


1815-1835 — ^Birth — Scheme  of  Book — ^Early  Influences — Oswestry 
— ^Law  Studies. 


HARLES  WILLIAM,  better 
known  as  Shirley,  Brooks, 
was  bom  on  April  29th,  1815, 
at  52  Doughty  Street,  London, 
— a  street,  by  the  way,  of  some 
literary  interest,  for  here 
Sydney  Smith  had  lived,  here 
at  No.  48  Dickens  wrote  part 
of  ''  The  Pickwick  Papers,'* 
here  at  No.  43  Edmund  Yates 
lived,  and  Tegg,the  publisher, 
opposite.  He  was  the  eldest 
of  the  three  sons  of  William  Brooks,  and  Elizabeth, 
eldest  daughter  of  Wilham  Sabine,  of  Islington. 
William  Brooks  was  an  architect  of  some  note 
in   his  day,   amongst   his   more   important  buildings 

*  The  initial  letters  in  this  volume  are  reproduced  from  Punch 
by  the  generous  kindness  of  the  proprietors,  Messrs.  Bradbury  and 
Agnew.  In  nearly  every  case  they  originally  decorated  "  Punch's 
Essence  of  Parliament,"  with  which  Shirley  Brooks's  name  wiU  be 
always  identified. 

1 

2— (2297) 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

being  the  London  Institute  and  ''Dr.  Fletcher *s 
Chapel ''  in  Finsbury  Circus,  Dudley  Church,  and  the 
Church  Missionary  College.  He  is  said  to  have 
belonged  to  a  good  old  Nottinghamshire  family  whose 
pedigree  could  be  traced  back  to  Richard  III,  and 
included  that  Laurence  Shirley,  Earl  of  Ferrers,  who, 
convicted  of  killing  his  steward,  gaily  drove  to  his  place 
of  execution  behind  six  cream-coloured  ponies.  That 
Shirley  Brooks  put  faith  in  this  tradition  seems  likely 
from  his  adoption  in  later  years  of  the  *'  front,''  for  it 
cannot  be  called  the  Christian,  name  by  which  he  will 
always  be  known.  There  may,  too,  have  been  a  further 
reason,  but  of  that  more  will  be  said  later. 

William  Brooks,  Shirley's  father  (born  Sept.  9th, 
1786)  was  a  member  of  the  Goldsmiths'  Company. 
The  date  of  his  marriage,  which  took  place  at  St. 
Mary's,  Islington,  was  October  16th,  1811,  and  Charles 
William  (Shirley)  was  there  baptized  on  June  14th, 
1815. 

As  to  the  day  of  the  month  of  Shirley's  birth  a  few 
words  must  be  added.  At  least  one  of  his  dearest 
friends  drinks  to  his  memory  on  St.  George's  Day, 
April  23rd,  but  in  his  diary  for  1869  I  find  April  29th 
underlined  in  red  ink  and  marked  *'  Birthday,"  and 
by  that  I  take  my  stand,  particularly  as  birthdays 
were,  as  we  shall  see,  matters  in  which  to  the  end  of  his 
life  he  took  the  keenest  interest.  No  doubt  the  confu- 
sion as  to  the  day  arose  from  his  habit  of  alluding  to 
"  Shakespeare's  and  my  birthday,"  which  was  one  of 
his  characteristic  little  jokes,  and  April  22nd  or  23rd 
is  that  generally  adopted  as  the  birthday  of  the  great 

2 


BIRTH 

dramatist.  Curiously  enough,  by  happy  chance,  I  find 
him  traversing  the  accuracy  of  this  date  in  ''  Punch's 
Essence  of  Parhament "  for  April  30th,  1864,  in  the 
following  words  : — 

''Saturday.  Mr.  Punch  published  his  Tercentenary 
number  in  honour  of  Shakespeare,  whose  birthday  this 
either  was  or  was  not,  most  hkely  the  latter,  firstly, 
because  babies  are  not  usually  christened  on  the  third 
day  ;  secondly,  because  New-Style  brings  the  alleged 
birthday  to  the  3rd  of  May,  and,  thirdly,  because  there 
was  east  wind  in  spite  of  the  heat,  and  Mr.  Punch 
had  no  mind  to  march  in  procession,  or  do  anything 
except  contemplate  with  ecstasy  his  own  magnificent 
picture  of  his  own  Shakespearian  procession." 

From  which  it  is  easy  to  see  that  Shirley  could  make 
the  date  of  Shakespeare's  birthday  coincide  with  his 
own  without  doing  any  very  serious  violence  to 
historical  accuracy. 

Of  Shirley  Brooks's  childhood  and  early  youth  there 
is  httle  to  record.  The  reasons  for  this  it  will  be  well 
to  state  at  once,  and  they  are  rather  tragical,  seeing 
that  he  himself  had  taken  particular  pains  from  a  very 
early  date  in  his  career  to  store  up  material  for  writing  | 
an  autobiography  which,  judging  from  what  has 
survived  the  general  wreck,  would,  had  his  life  been 
spared,  have  proved  of  outstanding  interest. 

By  a  strange  and  painful  fate  his  immediate  branch 
of  the  family  has,  in  the  thirty  years  since  his  death, 
been  wiped  off  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  letters, 
diaries,  and  other  treasured  documents  have  been 
destroyed  or  scattered  to  the  four  winds.  It  is  true 
that  some  have  come  to  hand,  and  those  by  good  fortune 

3 


SHIRLEY   BROOKS 

of  exceptional  interest,  but  they  are  but  the  disjecta 
membra  of  what  should  have  proved  a  complete 
body  of  very  real  importance  and  literary  value. 
Owing  to  circumstances  upon  which  it  is  unnecessary 
to  dwell,  but  which  reflect  no  discredit  either  on  the 
subject  of  this  biography  or  on  his  surviving  relatives, 
those  of  the  family  who  are  now  living  had  no  personal 
intercourse  with  the  Shirley  Brookses.  Thus  it  comes 
about  that  there  was  no  one  to  become  the  natural 
depositary  of  Shirley's  literary  remains,  no  one  whose 
pious  duty  it  was  to  preserve  the  memorials  of  his  life 
and  work.  This  is  matter  for  regret  and  that  is  all 
that  need  be  said. 

Of  Shirley's  own  intention  to  write  his  autobiography 
there  can  be  no  doubt.  He  had  kept  elaborate  diaries 
for  at  least  twenty-five  years  and  had  even  gone  so 
far  as  to  make  notes  and  excerpts  from  them  in  a 
separate  volume  expressly  to  that  end.  Here,  too,  he 
had  identified  much  of  his  unsigned  work,  which 
cannot  now  be  earmarked.  Not  that  on  this  score 
we  have  much  reason  to  complain,  for  it  is  rather  with 
the  man  than  with  his  literary  work  that  we  are 
concerned.  Our  chief  regret  at  the  loss  of  this  epitome 
lies  in  the  fact  that,  lacking  it,  we  are  faced  with  periods 
in  his  life  concerning  which  little  information  is 
obtainable,  and  again  other  periods  in  which  facts, 
sensations  and  experiences  crowd  upon  us  almost  to 
bewilderment.  Fortunately  for  us,  the  years  imme- 
diately preceding  his  short  editorship  of  Punchy  and 
those  crowning  four  years  during  which  he  controlled 
its  destinies,  are  fully  represented  from  his  point  of 

4 


HIS  REMAINS 

view,  and  therein  must  lie  the  chief  social  and  literary 
interest  of  this  volume. 

Some  years  after  Shirley's  death  all  his  papers  were 
deposited  for  safe  custody  with  a  well-known  Oxford 
Street  bookseller.  Then,  shortly  before  the  last  sur- 
viving member  of  the  family  disappeared  into  the  wilds 
of  Austraha,  they  were  with  a  few  exceptions  demanded 
back,  and  nothing  more  is  known  of  them,  except  that 
certain  of  the  diaries  survived  and,  by  devious  routes, 
have  come  into  my  hands.  That  more  may  be  in 
existence  and  may  come  to  light  now  that  interest  in 
the  man  is  stimulated  is  of  course  possible,  but  a  very 
widely  diffused  request  for  material  leads  me  to 
suppose  that  much  cannot  have  escaped  me. 

One  other  source  of  indirect  information  has  also 
been  dried  up.  Amongst  his  most  intimate  and  valued 
friends  Shirley  Brooks  numbered  the  family  of  Mr. 
Wmiam  Powell  Frith,  R.A.  To  the  ''  Sissy ''  Frith 
of  those  days,  now  the  well-known  authoress  Mrs. 
Panton,  he  was  in  the  habit  of  sending  for  her  amuse- 
ment what  he  called  the  '*  waste-paper  basket  of 
Punch.''  This  collection  of  letters  and  rejected  manu- 
scripts which  would  doubtless  have  thrown  many  a 
sidelight  on  this  story,  was  preserved  until  after  his 
death.  Then  the  doubt  arose  whether  much  mischief 
might  not  result  should  they  fall  into  the  hands  of 
anyone  inclined  to  make  unscrupulous  use  of  them. 
Discretion,  and  a  wise  discretion  as  it  eventually 
proved,  determined  on  their  destruction.  And  so 
another  mine  in  which  the  biographer  might  have 
worked  was  closed  down  for  ever. 

5 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

So  much  for  what  might  have  been.  Now,  one 
word  as  to  the  scope  and  aim  of  this  biography. 

Every  one  who  knows  anything  about  painting 
knows  that  oil  pictures  were  in  early  days  painted  in 
black-and-white  and  then  glazed,  i.e.,  overlaid  with 
transparent  colours,  the  result  being  what  is  technically 
called  chiaroscuro.  The  moderns  have  changed  all 
this  and  paint  with  solid  colours,  searching  above  all 
things  for  light.  Something  of  the  same  obtains  in 
biography.  We  are  no  longer  satisfied  with  the  bold 
outHnes,  the  large  aspects  of  a  man's  life.  We  want 
detail,  we  want  to  have  the  little  lights  and  shadows 
playing  about  a  man's  character,  not  those  great 
masses  of  Hght  and  shade,  that  make  him  appear  an 
impossible  paladin.  I  shall  therefore  make  no  apology 
for  presenting  Shirley  Brooks  in  minute  detail  where 
I  can,  by  means  of  his  letters  and  diaries.  For  I  am 
convinced  that  by  thus  putting  on  the  real,  solid  colours 
I  shall  give  a  truer  picture  of  the  man  than  by  ever  so 
cleverly  symbolising  his  not  altogether  heroic  figure — 
no  more  heroic,  I  mean,  than  most  other  creatures  of 
flesh  and  blood — by  writing  of  him  in  the  grand  and 
impersonal  manner  of  a  Plutarch  or  the  ''  Dictionary 
of  National  Biography.''  What  he  did  I  shall,  of 
course,  not  ignore,  but  what  he  was  it  shall  be  my 
particular  aim  to  depict.  I  do  not  want  to  hide 
Shirley  Brooks  behind  his  works.  It  would  be  better 
indeed  than  this  to  ignore  his  works  altogether.  The 
painter  of  Nature  does  not  want  so  much  to  show 
Nature  doing  something,  as  Nature  being  something. 
And  I  would  show  my  man  as  he  was,  not  merely  as 

6 


EARLY  INFLUENCES 

he  appeared  to  the  world,  doing  his  literary  athletics 
in  the  Man  in  the  Moon,  Punch,  the  Illustrated 
London  News,  and  his  novels. 

Of  incident  during  Shirley's  earliest  years  there  is 
practically  nothing  that  can  be  recovered. 

Of  the  influences  by  which  the  boy  was  surrounded 
we  gather  something.  His  father  was  a  man  of  strong 
religious  and  anti-Romish  convictions.  These  were 
insisted  upon  in  the  text  which  he  caused  to  be  placed 
over  a  door  of  the  chapel  designed  by  him  in  Finsbury 
Circus.  *' There  is  but  one  Mediator  between  God 
and  man,  the  man  Christ  Jesus/'  cut  in  stone,  was  a 
direct  and  uncompromising  challenge  to  the  hagiolatry 
of  an  adjoining  Roman  Catholic  place  of  worship. 
That  indicates  the  spirit  of  his  father,  and  together 
with  the  fact  that  his  mother  was  one  of  the  Sabines, 
an  old  Nonconformist  family,  suggests  the  sort  of 
moral  atmosphere  in  which  his  early  years  were  passed. 

Of  his  appearance  and  character  as  a  child  we  find 
Madame  Dorini  (Niemann)  saying  in  later  days  that 
he  was  the  most  beautiful  boy  she  ever  saw — the  kind 
of  thing  that  people  do  say  when  a  man  has  assumed 
a  prominent  position  in  the  world.  He  himself  wrote 
that  he  *'  was  rather  what  a  mother  calls  a  *  pretty 
boy '  and  horribly  intelHgent.  So  people  petted  me 
and  took  me  out  to  sights  much  sooner  than  was  good 
for  me.  And  I  rapidly  became  a  hlase  httle  beast 
and  found  no  fun  in  anything."  And  in  one  of  his 
diaries  he  speaks  of  himself  as  having  been  ''  a 
scape-gracious  sort  of  lad." 

An  entry  in   his  diary  for   1871   indicates   further 

7 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

religious  influences.  He  has  turned  up  a  letter  from 
''  my  dear  old  grandmother  Sabine,  dated  Hastings, 
where  she  was  with  my  father  and  aunts,  Sept.  17th, 
1827  ...  a  most  kind  and  piously  written  letter, 
2J  close  sides  of  letter  paper  ending  with  a  hope  that 
I  feel  '  grateful  that  means  are  afforded  you  whereby 
you  may  become  a  useful  member  of  society.  That 
the  Lord  may  bless  you  in  whatever  situation  you  may 
in  future  be  placed  is  the  sincere  and  earnest  prayer 
of  your  affectionate  grandmother,  Elizabeth  Sabine.'  '* 

Of  his  education  we  have  the  rather  indefinite 
information  that  he  was  educated  at  ''  a  pubhc  school 
in  the  City,"  and  more  definitely  that,  probably  before 
this,  he  passed  through  the  hands  of  the  Rev.  T.  J. 
Bennett,  afterwards  Sub-Dean  of  St.  Paul's,  **  whose 
house  was  opposite  to  Charles  Lamb's  cottage  on  the 
banks  of  the  New  River." 

From  the  meagreness  of  which  details  it  is  suffi- 
ciently obvious  that,  though  we  may  discover  what 
sort  of  man  the  boy  grew  into,  we  have  not  much  to  go 
upon  as  to  the  formative  influences  which  conduced  to 
his  earher  development. 

There  is  indeed  nothing  more  to  be  said  of  him  until 
the  time  arrived  for  choosing  a  profession. 

On  April  24th,  1832,  when  he  was  now  in  his  seven- 
teenth year,  we  find  him  serving  his  articles  to  his  uncle, 
Charles  Sabine,  solicitor,  of  Oswestry,  nominally  for  the 
term  of  five  years.* 

This  is  the  first  important  landmark  in  Shirley's  life. 

*  Apparently  he  went  to  Oswestry  in  1830  and  left  in  1833. 

8 


OSWESTRY 

And  fortunately  for  us,  we  have  set  down  in  black  and 
white  by  his  own  hand  something  that  will  help  us  to 
a  proper  understanding  of  this  great  step,  which  was 
to  land  him  '*  out  of  the  nursery  into  the  limitless 
world." 

A  quarter-of-a-century  later  he  took  Oswestry  as 
the  background  of  his  novel,  *'  The  Gordian  Knot/' 
writing  of  it  under  the  transparent  pseudonym  of 
"  St.  Oscars." 

Of  his  first  visit  he  wrote  : — 

"  In  the  time  when  I  first  knew  it  we  went  thither 
by  his  Majesty's  Mail — ^red  coach — red  guard — red 
driver — four  spanking  horses,  which  during  the  night 
were  changed,  as  it  seemed  to  the  aroused  sleeper, 
every  five  minutes — snorting  horn  at  the  turnpikes  in 
the  towns — horribly  cold  feet  in  the  morning — very 
high  fares — extortionate  fees — good  refreshment  on  the 
road — and  everybody  heartily  glad  when  the  business 
was  over." 

Plainly  a  method  of  travelling  that  had  its  drawbacks 
compared  with  the  best  corner  in  a  first-class  railway 
carriage,  but  it  had  its  compensations.  You  saw 
England,  you  gained  some  idea  of  the  face  of  the 
motherland.  *'  And  the  few  minutes  of  stoppage  in 
the  towns  were,  to  anyone  who  knew  how  to  use  them, 
invaluable  opportunities  for  fixing  the  towns  in 
memory  for  the  rest  of  one's  life." 

And  Shirley  was  just  the  one,  with  his  extraordinary 
memory  for  details,  to  make  the  most  of  such  oppor- 
tunities. He  was  already  stowing  away  in  his  capa- 
cious brain  material  for  future  use  in  his  destined 

9 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

occupation.  But  at  present  Law  was  his  objective, 
Journalism  his  unsuspected  goal. 

In  those  days  Oswestry  was  something  different 
from  what  it  is  now.  At  that  time,  a  London  news- 
paper was  a  luxury  subscribed  for  by  a  group  of  neigh- 
bours, and  then  only  arriving  in  the  middle  of  the  day 
following  its  publication.  Now  it  boasts  a  newspaper 
of  its  own,  and  you  can  I  ave  the  Times  or  Daily  Mail 
on  the  morning  of  issue.  Then  it  was  a  little  self- 
contained  world.  Now  it  is,  with  the  rest  of  England, 
just  a  suburb  of  London. 

Charles  Sabine,  his  uncle,  was  one  of  the  most 
prominent  members  of  the  little  community.  Originally 
called  to  the  Bar,  he  had  abandoned  the  senior  branch 
of  the  profession,  and,  becoming  a  partner  in  his 
grandfather's  business  in  1819,  had  ever  since  practised 
as  a  solicitor.  A  man  of  real  culture,  refined  tastes 
and  no  mean  literary  ability,  his  influence  upon  the 
youth  who  was  now  to  be  so  closely  associated  with 
him  cannot  be  over-estimated. 

Many  are  the  stories  still  current  of  his  eccentricities, 
his  enthusiasms,  his  courage,  his  strong  religious 
convictions.  He  held  peculiar  views  as  to  the  second 
coming  of  Christ.  A  spare  cover  was  laid  at  every 
meal.  Food  and  drink  were  left  on  the  table  every 
night,  for  Christ  might  revisit  the  world  in  the  flesh 
at  any  moment ! 

He  was  small  of  stature  and  had  his  house  fitted  with 
low  doorways  to  suit  his  height,  which  doorways,  by 
the  way,  do  not  suit  the  height  of  its  present  occupant. 

Both  he  and  his  father  were  collectors  of  old  oak 

10 


CHARLES  SABINE 

when  few  others  took  interest  in  such  things.  He  was 
a  Greek  scholar,  who  never  allowed  his  scholarship  to 
rust  for  lack  of  use. 

Here  is  Shirley's  description  of  him  under  the 
transparent  guise  of  *'  Henry  Cheriton ''  in  ''  The 
Gordian  Knot "  :  ''  For  the  oppressed  he  always 
stood  forward  as  champion  ;  but,  a  gentleman  by 
birth  and  bearing,  his  advocacy  never  took  an  offensive 
attitude,  and  he  never  triumphed  in  its  success.  It 
was  less  an  interference  between  patron  and  dependent, 
landlord  and  tenant,  master  and  servant,  than  the 
removal  of  a  misunderstanding,  and  an  endeavour  to 
convince  each  that  the  other  had  unrecognised  pjod 
qualities."  Many  indeed  complained  that  Mr.  Sabine 
went  out  of  his  way  to  do  work  which  was  not  germane 
to  his  business,  '^  but  such  complaints  passed  him  as 
the  idle  wind."  He  once  remarked  when  told  of  such 
animadversions  : — 

*'  My  profession  is  a  larger  one  than  some  people 
seem  to  understand.  It  includes  a  general  practice, 
for  which  I  have  a  licence  given  from  Jerusalem. 
I  am  sorry  folks  cannot  read  it  but  I  can  and  I  know 
my  tether." 

Highly  strung  by  nature,  he  could  yet  nerve  himself 
to  conspicuous  courage.  Of  slight  strength  and  build, 
he  seemed  fearless  in  the  presence  of  physical  danger. 
Substituting  Oswestry  for  *'  St.  Oscars  "  and  Charles 
Sabine  for  *'  Henry  Cheriton,"  here  is  a  story  of  him 
which  the  neighbourhood  will  never  forget :  "  There 
was  a  time  when  disturbances  broke  out  in  the  mining 
districts  of  more  than  one  county  adjoining  that  in 

11 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

which  Oswestry  stands,  and  rough  and  grim  men 
collected  by  the  thousand  at  the  sound  of  horns,  heard 
raving  sermons  by  torchlight,  and  then  marched  into 
the  towns  and  flooded  them  with  violence  and  tumult. 
Rumours  came  that  such  a  visit  was  to  be  paid  to 
Oswestry,  and  the  magistracy,  collecting  what  force 
they  could  of  yeomanry  and  constables,  went  out  to 
meet  the  rioters.  With  the  authorities  rode  Mr. 
Sabine,  and  they  took  possession  of  a  bridge  upon  the 
road  along  which  the  enemy  was  to  come.  They  came 
in  great  force,  armed  with  clubs  and  missiles,  and  upon 
perceiving  the  small  array  of  their  opponents  uttered 
a  yell  of  derision,  and  opened  a  galling  shower  of  stones. 
The  Riot  Act  was  read  in  dumb  show,  and  the  lawful 
men  were  thrown  into  confusion  by  the  lawless  ones, 
and  would  have  speedily  fled,  when  Mr.  Sabine  spurred 
forward  on  a  white  horse,  well  known  at  many  a  home 
where  its  master  had  halted  to  do  good,  and,  riding  into 
the  ranks  of  the  assailants,  seized  the  leader.  On  the 
high  ridge  of  the  bridge  the  whole  crowd  could  see  the 
sKght  figure  of  the  lawyer,  who  held  his  man  in  a 
determined  grip.  Many  of  them  knew  him.  Others 
were  daunted  by  the  daring  of  the  act,  and  there  was 
no  more  stoning.  He  then  addressed  them,  and  in  a 
short,  energetic  speech  pointed  out  the  folly  and 
wickedness  of  their  acts,  and  warned  them  that,  while 
the  gentlemen  of  the  district  were  earnest  in  their 
desire  to  assist  the  working  men  through  their  griev- 
ances, no  intimidation  would  be  borne  with.  There 
was  something  of  Sabine's  wonted  kindliness  in  the 
address,  and  before  it  was  well  ended  the  man  he  had 

12 


CHARLES  SABINE 

captured  asked  leave  to  speak,  and  mounting  the 
parapet  motioned  to  the  mob  to  retreat.  They 
obeyed/'* 

There  we  have  a  picture  of  Charles  Sabine  as  a  man 
of  action,  but  to  leave  him  there  would  be  to  leave  him 
in  profile.  For  above  all  things  he  was  a  man  of  strong 
religious,  though  tolerant,  conviction,  one  who  loved 
the  contemplative,  whilst  bowdng  to  the  necessity  of 
an  active  life.  By  temperament  an  idealist,  he  braced 
himself  to  face  reahties.  By  temperament  and  practice 
a  poet  and  to  the  last  a  trenchant  pamphleteer,  he  gave 
the  best  of  his  strength  to  furthering  the  every-day 
interests  of  his  clients.  With  eyes  lifted  to  the  stars, 
he  had  his  feet  set  firmly  on  the  earth.  Compact  of 
imagination,  he  excelled  in  soundness  of  judgment. 
Capable  of  fierce  indignation,  he  could  be  playful, 
tender  as  a  woman,  full  of  humour. 

An  example  may  be  given  of  the  last.  Shortly 
before  his  death  he  found  a  friend  dihgently  counting 
his  money.  Affecting  to  retreat,  he  said  with  a  twinkle 
in  his  eye,  *'  Oh,  I  beg  your  pardon.  I  see  I  am 
disturbing  your  devotions  !  !  ''  That  was  characteristic 
of  the  man,  to  gild  a  home-truth  with  a  coating  of 
laughter.  As  the  writer  of  his  obituary  notice  in  the 
Oswestry  Advertiser  well  put  it  :  "  Spiritual  religion 
was  the  great  reality  of  his  life.  It  crowned  all  his 
excellences  and  gave  a  happy  flavour  to  his  natural 
geniality.  It  combated  all  that  was  weak  and  faulty 
in  him." 

*  Vide  "  The  Gordian  Knot." 

13 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

Born  of  Nonconformist  parents  and  throughout  his 
Ufe  in  formal  fellowship  with  Dissent,  he  neverthe- 
less approved  of  the  Episcopacy  and  was  a  frequent 
worshipper  and  communicant  in  the  Established 
Church.  In  this  he  was  not  singular  amongst  Non- 
conformists, not  a  few  of  whom  approve  of  Church 
teaching  but  cannot  away  with  Establishment.  His 
sympathies  were  catholic,  his  most  earnest  wish  the 
unity  of  the  Church.  He  deprecated  above  all  things 
the  walls  of  partition  in  the  fold  of  Christ.  He  looked 
for  the  good  in  things,  not  the  evil.  He  held  fast  to 
what  he  believed  to  be  the  ultimate  truth  that  ''  the 
whole  church  in  heaven  and  earth  are  one.'*  It  was 
the  mainspring  of  all  he  did  and  felt. 

I  have  been  the  more  particular  to  give  a  somewhat 
full  account  of  Charles  Sabine,  seeing  that,  amongst 
Shirley  Brooks's  early  influences,  this  remarkable  man 
held  jEoremost  place.  At  the  impressionable  age  of 
seventeen  to  be  admitted  to  the  intimacy  of  a  man  with 
such  high  ideals,  such  strong  individuahty  and  such 
marked  literary  taste,  was  no  small  piece  of  fortune 
for  one  who  was  soon  to  find  himself  adrift  on  the  sea 
of  life  with  good  and  evil  on  the  right  and  on  the  left 
ready  for  him  to  choose  from  according  to  bias  or 
inclination.  Of  his  home  influence  we  can  but  con- 
jecture something.  Of  the  influences  brought  to  bear 
whilst  under  his  uncle's  roof  we  are  able  to  gather  not 
a  Httle.  And  there  is  ample  evidence  to  show  that  this 
influence  was  not  without  its  effect  on  his  character. 
Strenuously  and  actively  engaged,  as  he  was  destined 
to  be,  in  pursuits  and  under  conditions  very  different 

14 


RELIGIOUS  INFLUENCES 

from  those  which  obtained  at  Oswestry,  there  is 
evidence  in  plenty  to  show  that  beneath  the  motley 
of  the  professional  Jester,  hidden  from  all  but  his  more 
intimate  friends,  he  ever  wore  that  which  reminded 
him  that  he  was  mortal.  Living  his  Hfe  to  the  utmost, 
he  yet  was  not  slow  to  remember  that  death  was  round 
the  corner.  Which,  after  all,  is  only  to  say  that  the 
King  of  Jesters  is  very  like  other  men,  playing  his  part 
before  the  world,  but  torn  with  doubts  in  secret ; 
fighting  to  solve  the  great  enigma  ;  as  painfully  and 
seriously  engaged  in  the  Battle  of  Life  as  the  most 
serious  and  conscientious  of  those  who  think  him  but 
a  merry-andrew.  I  do  not  wish  to  labour  this,  but  we 
should  read  Shirley  Brooks's  Hfe  wrong  were  we  not 
to  bear  in  mind  that  there  was  through  everything, 
in  spite  of  much  that  was  frivolous  and  trivial,  this 
unsuspected  undercurrent  of  Puritanism,  perhaps  I 
should  rather  say  a  sort  of  shame-faced  piety,  which 
touched  bottom  on  a  strong  belief  in  the  benevolence 
and  love  of  the  Creator.  A  sentence  from  one  of  his 
later  diaries  will  show  what  I  mean,  though  many 
others  might  be  cited.  It  is  preceded  by  the  usual 
laconic  **  wrote  for  Punch ''  by  which  his  life  was  at 
that  time  punctuated.  **  Had  the  pain  in  my  side 
to-day  but  '  D.E.A.'  (vide  illumination  in  my 
bedroom).*' 

The  pain  warned  him  that  he  was  mortal,  but  there 
was  at  any  rate  something  to  fall  back  upon — just  the 
shortest  confession  of  faith,  illuminated  for  him  by 
a  little  friend,  framed  and  hung  by  his  bed.  Just 
**  God  is  Love,"  Latinized  in  his  diary,  perhaps  with  a 

15 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

sort  of  boyish  reserve,  into  "  D.E.A/'  (Deus  est  Amor), 
but  showing,  I  think,  the  simple  faith  of  the  man  who 
outwardly  appeared  just  a  thoughtless,  worldly, 
laughter-loving  wearer  of  the  cap  and  bells. 

Throughout  his  life  Shirley  looked  back  on  his  time 
at  Oswestry  with  deep  affection,  and  Oswestry  reci- 
procated the  sentiment,  justifiably  claiming  him  as  one 
of  its  most  distinguished  sons,  if  only  by  adoption. 
Though  one  of  the  busiest  of  men,  he  never  failed  to 
communicate  to  his  friends  there  anything  in  the 
papers  or  elsewhere  bearing  upon  the  history  of  a 
community  which  has  always  been  remarkable  for  its 
pride  and  interest  in  local  traditions  and  associations. 
'*  As  a  boy,'*  wrote  Mr.  Askew  Roberts,  the  editor  of 
By-goneSy  the  Notes  and  Queries  of  the  Cambrian 
Border,  ''  I  remember  the  keen  delight  we  always  felt 
when  Mr.  Brooks  came  amongst  us  and  took  interest 
in  our  sports.  We  all  loved  him,  and  I  have  felt  it 
indeed  an  honour  for  so  many  years  to  be  favoured 
with  communications  from  him.  Although  we  Oswes- 
trians  have  only  had  hasty  glimpses  of  Mr.  Brooks  of 
late  years  *'  {i.e.,  the  sixties  and  seventies),  "  his  death, 
to  all  who  remember  his  residence  here,  has  been  Hke 
that  of  a  friend.'*  That  was  just  it.  As  Jerrold  said, 
'*  He  had  the  faculty  of  holding  people  close  to  him. 
He  had  a  princely  memory.  He  never  forgot  a  face  he 
had  seen  nor  the  circumstances  under  which  he  had 
seen  it.  .  .  .  This  faculty  of  retention,  applied 
industriously  to  literary  pursuits  by  a  man  of  fastidious 
taste,  produced  the  thorough  man  of  letters.' ' 

And  Oswestry  was  in  his  mind   as   he   lay  on   his 

16 


SHROPSHIRE 

death-bed.     He  had  bestirred  himself  to  do  something 

for  Punchy  and  with  his  dying  hand  penned  a  set  of 

*'  Election  Epigrams/'     One  of  these  ran  : — 

"  The  pen  that  now  congratulates  thee,  Cotes, 
Helped  to  secure  thy  sire  North  Shropshire  votes," 

recalling  the  fact  that  the  Mr.  Cotes  just  elected  in 
1874  for  Shrewsbury  was  the  son  of  the  Mr.  Cotes 
elected  more  than  forty  years  before  for  North  Shrop- 
shire. The  powerful  brain  was  fighting  against  the 
decay  of  the  nearly  worn-out  body.  It  recalled  how 
he  had,  as  a  boy,  repeated  the  phrase  "  Lord  CUve's 
Twelve  Apostles  ''  appHed  to  the  then  twelve  members 
of  Parliament  for  the  county,  and  how  he  had  been 
remonstrated  with  for  his  profanity.  It  recalled  how 
he  had  ridden  out  to  canvass  Lord  Godolphin's  tenants 
only  to  find  that  Lord  CHve  had  ordered  them  to  vote 
for  Sir  R.  Hill  and  Major  Gore,  a  command  which 
they  were  firmly  resolved  to  obey.  And  it  recalled 
little  more  before  it  fell  into  its  last,  deep  sleep. 

When,  in  1859,  Charles  Sabine  died,  Shirley  showed 
his  high  appreciation  of  his  friend  and  uncle,  and  that 
dehcate  sympathy  which  was  one  of  his  notable 
characteristics,  by  the  following  letter  written  to  his 
cousin.    Miss    Margaret     Sabine.     After    the    usual 

condolences  he  proceeds  : — ■■ 

"  June  28th,  1859. 
"Mr.  Minshall,  it  seems,  wrote  the  notice  in  the 
Oswestry  Advertiser.  Some  day  (if  the  thought  has 
not  already  occurred  to  you)  I  would  suggest  that 
you  might  find  happiness  in  preparing  some  little 
separate  memorial  of  our  lost  one.  No  one  would  (or 
could)  do  it  so  well.     And  if  the  idea  pleases  you,  and 

17 

3— <a397) 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

you  do  decide  on  it,  you  shall  let  me  have  this  part  in 
the  matter,  that  I  have  the  bringing  it  out,  through  the 
house  of  my  friends,  Messrs.  Bradbury  &  Evans,  who 
will  do  it  every  justice  for  my  sake  and  yours.  Its  cost 
to  you  (we  must  speak  of  such  things)  shall  be  the 
postage  of  your  MS.  to  me — beyond  that,  not  one  coin. 
Think  of  the  plan,  dear  Margaret,  when  your  mind  is 
calmed  for  it.  It  would  give  me  so  much  gratification 
to  be  your  agent  in  such  a  work. 

^^  Emily*  sends  her  kindest  love  to  my  aunt  and  your- 
self, and  looks  gladly  forward  to  the  time  when  she 
shaU  meet  you.     So  do  I. 

"  Lastly  and  leastly,  the  new  periodical  Once  a  Week, 
which  Mr.  Dickens's  conduct  has  almost  compelled  his 

/old  partners  to  begin,  and  with  which  I  am  closely 
associated,  is  published  this  week.  Upon  my  '  free  list  * 
I  have  placed  your  name,  and  I  hope  that  it  will  not 
be  unacceptable  to  you  to  receive  the  work.  We  hope 
to  make  a  valuable  '  property '  of  it — the  artistic 
talent  will  be  very  strong.     But  it  is  an  experiment. 

*'  While  I  write  (in  the  Temple)  there  is  a  great 
cannonade  at  both  ends  of  London.  Something  to  be 
thankful  for  that  it  is  only  in  honour  of  the  coronation 
anniversary,  and  nothing  Hke  Solferino,  of  which,  of 
course,  everybody  is  talking,  and  desiring  details. 
The  carnage  seems  to  have  been  terrible,  and  the 
famous  '  Quadrilateral '  of  fortresses,  the  pride  and 
hope  of  Austria,  has  been  broken  into.  How  far  the 
reflection  will  console  the  households  at  home,  whose 
heads  are  lying  beside  the  Chiese  and  the  Mincio,  one 
dares  not  guess.  Thank  Heaven  for  our  wall  of  sea. 
*'  Ever,  my  dear  Margaret, 

*'  Your  affectionate  cousin, 

''  Charles  S.  Brooks.'* 

*  Mrs.  Shirley  Brooks. 

18 


TALFOURD 

A  few  years  before,  when  Shirley  was  but  new  to  the 
ranks  of  Punch ,  he  had  remembered  Mr.  Sabine's 
friendship  with  Talfourd,  and  catching  at  the  chance 
of  affording  his  uncle  gratification  and  at  the  same 
time  paying  a  proper  tribute  to  that  remarkable 
combination  of  judge,  dramatist  and  poet,  had  penned 
the  verses  from  which  the  following  may  be  quoted  : — 

*^  Dead  !     He  should  have  died  hereafter, 

Time  had  come  for  such  a  word, 
When  the  day  of  fight  was  over, 

And  the  triumph-bells  were  heard. 
Statesman — Minister  of  Justice — 

Friend  of  all  who  needed  friend. 
Poet— might  he  not  have  tarried. 

Seen  our  conflict  to  the  end  ? 

*  id  If  * 

Gallant  heart !     But  happier,  nobler, 

Hold  the  doom  'twas  his  to  meet, 
Who — declaring  Heaven's  own  message — • 

Died  upon  the  judgment  seat. 
On  his  lip  that  holy  lesson 

All  his  hfe  had  taught,  he  cried, 
*  Help  the  humble,  help  the  needy — 

Help  with  Love.'     So  Talfourd  died  !  "  * 

Not  great  verses — indeed,  mere  journalese — but 
prompted  by  feelings  of  affection  and  hero-worship 
pre-eminently  characteristic  of  the  writer. 

Shirley  further  showed  his  affection  for  Oswestry 
by  contributing  in  1848  a  story  entitled  **  The  Clans- 
man ;    A  Tale  of  the  Rebellion,''  to  Oswald's  Well,  a 
short-lived    local    magazine.     It    concluded    in    the 
December  number  with  these  words  : — 

*  Mr.  Justice  Talfourd  died  in  Court,  March  13th,  1854. 

19 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

"  We  have  thus  concluded  a  tale  which  has  been  the 
means  of  renewing,  for  some  twelve  months,  our  asso- 
ciation with  a  locaHty  of  which  we  shall  never  think 
without  feelings  of  pleasure  and  gratitude.  If  our 
contributing  this  Httle  romance  .  .  .  has  been  in 
however  slight  a  degree  an  acceptable  tribute  to  any 
kind  friends  there,  in  whose  memories  we  may  still 
live,  we  are  more  proud  of  that  result  than  of  the  most 
choice  success  we  may  have  been  fortunate  to  have 
obtained  elsewhere.'' 

Again  in  1863  we  find  him  eagerly  seizing  upon  the 
opportunity  of  flattering  his  old  friends  by  raising  a 
paean  in  Punch  in  praise  of  Sergeant  Roberts  of 
Wem,  who  had  won  the  Queen's  Prize  at  Wimbledon, 
beginning  ''  Shout  jolly  Shropshire,"  and  concluding  : — 

"  Bid  thy  swift  waters  break  into  a  gallop, 
Thy  salmon  leap  joyfully  up  at  the  flies, 
For  prouder  than  ever  henceforth  is  Proud  Salop 
Now  Roberts  of  Shropshire  has  won  the  Queen's  Prize." 

And  again  when  we  come  to  the  events  of  1865  we 
shall  find  him  lecturing  at  Oswestry  before  a  crowded 
audience,  and  by  his  efforts  clearing  off  the  debt  on  the 
local  Literary  Institute. 

Of  actual  events  during  his  time  at  Oswestry  there  is 
but  scant  record,  but  that  he  was  pressed  into  the 
public  service  of  the  community  is  proved  by  the  fact 
that  he  acted  as  librarian  to  the  Old  Chapel  Sunday 
School,  of  which  Mr.  Sabine  was  superintendent. 

Of  his  reading  less  than  a  little  is  known.  Indeed, 
aptly  enough,  considering  the  part  he  was  destined 
to  play  in  the  world,  the  only  volume  that  he  certainly 

20 


THE  THEATRE 

studied  at  this  time  was  the  anonymous  *'  Jokeby/* 
then  attributed  to  James  and  Horace  Smith,  but  about 
the  authorship  of  which  doubts  have  since  been  raised. 
Of  his  recreations  we  catch  but  a  ghmpse.  Amongst 
these  whilst  under  his  uncle's  roof  was  probably  7iot 
the  theatre,  for  forty  years  later  he  writes  in  his 
diary  : — 

"  Reading  book  Macmillan  sent.  Life  of  Young, 
the  actor,  by  his  son.  Pleasant  book.  I  am  not  quite 
sure  as  to  whether  I  did  not  see  Young  for  a  moment  at 
Oswestry.  I  know  that  he  came  there  to  act,  and 
that  '  The  Scape-Goat '  was  put  up,  on  the  anniversary 
of  some  '  day  of  national  deliverance '  (probably 
Nov.  5th),  and  the  title  of  the  farce  hurt  my  dear 
uncle,  C.  S.'s,  religious  feehngs,  and  he  issued  a  counter- 
placard  of  protest.  It  was  at  this  time,  if  any,  that  I 
saw  a  big  man,  wrapped  up,  leave  a  carriage,  and  I 
believe  I  saw  Young,  but  it  was  for  a  moment  only. 
F.  Fladgate's  imitation  of  him  brings  him  vividly  to  my 
mind." 

This  must  have  been  one  of  the  last  appearances  of 
Charles  Mayne  Young,  the  great  comedian,  for,  though 
he  survived  to  the  year  1856,  he  retired  from  the  stage 
in  1832. 

By  and  bye  Shirley  had  more  than  enough  of  theatre- 
going,  but  it  was  probably  after  the  Oswestry  time 
that  he  had  the  first  glimpse  of  surroundings  in  which 
he  was  destined  to  play  so  prominent  a  part.  More 
than  thirty  years  later  he  wrote  : — 

''  I  see  that  Mrs.  R.  Honner,  actress,  is  about  to  take 
a  farewell  benefit.  This  reminds  me  of  very  old  times. 
The  first  play  I  ever  saw  was  at  Sadlers  Wells,  when  she, 

21 


SHIRLEY   BROOKS 

then  Miss  Macarthy,  was  a  sort  of  star  there.*  It  was 
the  '  Red  Crow.*  I  went  up  from  the  office  in  John 
Street  one  hot  summer  day,  and  not  having  much 
money  obtained  a  trifle,  from  my  '  uncle,'  but  not 
J.  S.  B.  In  the  pit.  Remember  making  a  solemn 
note  of  the  incident,  and  putting  it  away  with  the 
playbill,  and  wondering  whether  I  should  be  enticed 
into  habitual  theatre-going,  a  thing  I  had  been  taught 
to  fear.  Certainly  I  did  go  to  the  play  a  good  deal 
afterwards,  and  came  to  write  plays,  and  now  it  is  hard 
work  to  get  me  into  a  theatre.  I  believe  that  I  used 
to  see  Mrs.  Honner  afterwards  at  the  Surrey — an 
energetic  little  melodramatic.'* 

I  do  not  find  that  Shirley  was  at  any  time  much 
addicted  to  athletic  pursuits.  Certainly  the  writer  in 
CasselVs  Illustrated  Paper  for  October,  1858,  drew 
somewhat  upon  his  imagination  when  he  stated  that 
''  he  became  an  excellent  sportsman  with  a  keen 
relish  for  country  life.'* 

That  he  could  use  a  gun  is  apparent  from  the  follow- 
ing entry  in  his  diary  for  December  11th,  1873,  but 
that  he  had  a  keen  rehsh  for  country  Hfe  is  directly 
negatived  by  a  hundred  indications.  He  was  a 
town-bird  to  the  tips  of  his  fingers. 

"  Got  an  auctioneer's  paper  from  Oswestry,  setting 
forth  that  Carreg  Llwyd,  my  Uncle  Charles's  place,  is 
to  be  offered  for  sale.  Wonder  what  this  means. 
I  recollect  the  house  being  begun.  I  had  often  shot 
fieldfares  on  its  site.  But  I  left  Oswestry  before  my 
uncle  moved  in." 

♦  Miss  Macarthy  was  married  at  the  age  of  twenty-four  to  Robert 
William  Honner,  the  manager  of  the  Surrey  Theatre,  in  1836. 

22 


SPORT 

And  that  his  early  sporting  proclivities  were  not 
contrary  to  the  wishes  of  his  uncle  is  proved  by  a  quaint 
piece  of  evidence  which  came  to  light  fourteen  years 
after  his  death.  For  the  following  note  I  am  indebted 
to  Mr.  Parry  Jones  : — 

"  In  1888  the  following,  in  the  handwriting  of 
Shirley  Brooks,  was  found  enclosed  in  the  heel  plate 
of  a  gun  sent  to  a  gunmaker  to  be  stocked  :  '  Latronibus 
Admonitio.  This  paper  is  enclosed  in  a  hole  bored  in 
the  stock  of  a  gun  the  property  of  me  the  undersigned. 
The  gun  was  given  to  me  in  the  winter  of  the  year  1830 
by  Mr.  Charles  Sabine,  of  Oswestry,  Shropshire, 
Solicitor.  I  am  a  clerk  to  him  and  to  Mr.  Thos. 
Menlove,  his  partner,  both  of  whom  can  identify  this 
gun  as  can  the  persons  whose  names  are  written  on  the 
back.     As  witness  my  hand  this  15th  August,  1831. 

"  '  Charles  Wm.  Brooks.*  " 

Here  follow  six  names  all  connected  with  Oswestry, 
together  with  the  quatrain  beloved  of  bibUophiles 
adapted  to  his  purposes  : — 

"  Steal  not  this  gun  for  fear  of  shame 
For  here  you  see  its  owner's  name, 
And  when  you  die  oki  Nick  will  say 
*  Where  is  that  gun  you  stole  away  ?  '  * 

''  Charles  Wm.  Brooks." 

One  result  of  Shirley's  sojourn  in  Oswestry  is  to  be 
found  in  the  later  pages  of  Punch.  The  Fleet  Street 
hunchback  had  allowed  the  habit  to  grow  upon  him  of 
sneering  at  all  things  Welsh,  the  Eisteddfod  included. 
But    as    Shirley's    influence    ''  behind    the    throne '' 

*  Accompanying  this  was  the  well-known  Latin  version. 

23 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

became  stronger,  things  took  a  turn.  Elsewhere  he 
had  written  ''  I  cannot  but  think  that  too  much  has 
been  inconsiderately  said  against  the  Welsh  language, 
Welsh  literature,  and  the  Welsh  habit  of  mind,"  and 
now  he  wrote  an  address  to  Wales  declaring  that : — 

"  Punch,  incarnate  justice, 
Intends  henceforth  to  lick 
All  who  shall  scorn  or  sneer  at  you, 
You  jolly  little  brick  ;  " 

and  henceforward  ''  the  little  scoundrel  of  Fleet 
Street "  very  well  kept  his  promise. 

That,  however,  is  looking  a  long  way  forward,  for 
Punch  had  not  yet  been  even  dreamed  of,  and  his 
future  editor  was  struggling  to  master  the  intricacies 
of  writs,  summonses,  subpoenas,  pleas,  demurrers, 
rebutters,  rejoinders,  surrebutters,  and  surrejoinders, 
and  all  the  other  dreadful  things  that  the  archaic  body 
of  the  law  was  then  heir  to. 

In  the  year  1833  he  left  Oswestry  for  the  office  of 
a  London  cousin,  Mr.  Sheffield  Brooks,  where  he  is 
said  to  have  worked  to  such  purpose  that  he  was  placed 
amongst  the  first  four  in  the  earliest  batch  of  candidates 
to  be  examined  at  the  Hall  of  the  Incorporated  Law 
Society,  which  had  but  lately  received  its  charter. 
The  date  of  this  was  1838,  but  there  is  no  record  of  his 
ever  having  been  actually  admitted  as  a  solicitor.  That 
he  did  what  he  did  mainly  off  his  own  bat  appears  from 
an  entry  in  his  diary  for  Feb.  19th,  1871,  where  he 
writes :  **  I  was  never  directed  at  all,  and  yet, 
somehow,  I  managed  to  grope  and  flounder  well,  and 
was  high  up  in  the  examination/*     Though,  that  he  had 

24 


LAW  STUDIES 

some  coaching  is  clear  from  another  entry  on  March 
4th,  1873  :— 

''  Saw,  I  think  in  yesterday^s  Times,  death  of 
Wm.  Palmer  Parker,  the  conveyancer,  aged  80.  This 
was  the  adviser  of  J.  S.  Brooks  &  Cooper's  house. 
I  was  in  constant  intercourse  with  him,  and  indeed 
read  a  short  time  in  his  chambers  before  going  up  for 
my  examination  as  a  soHcitor.  I  liked  him.  He 
stuttered,  and  was  about  the  ugliest  man  I  knew. 
I  think  he  was  some  sort  of  Quaker,  yet  he  one  day 
showed  me  the  picture  of  a  very  pretty  girl,  and  asked 
me  how  I  liked  her.*' 

It  is  further  evident  that  he  took  things  fairly  easily, 
for,  amongst  those  rare  details  which  have  floated  up 
from  the  past,  comes  the  undeniable  fact  that  he  and 
one  of  his  fellow-clerks  manufactured  a  backgammon 
board  at  the  bottom  of  one  of  the  office  drawers,  ''  so 
that  we  could  play  in  peace  when  we  ought  to  have 
been  drawing  conveyances — shutting  the  drawer  when 
the  gubernatorial  foot  was  heard.'* 

The  rest,  so  far  as  his  legal  studies  are  concerned,  is 
silence.  And  so  we  leave  him  this  moment  rattling 
his  dice,  and  the  next,  to  outward  appearance  at 
least,  engrossed  with  the  interests  of  Mr.  Sheffield 
Brooks's  clients. 


25 


CHAPTER  II 


1835-1850— The  Beginning  of  his  Literary  Life— The  Argus, 
Ainsworth's  Magazine,  and  the  Illustrated  London  News — 
A  Freemason — Cruikshank's  Table  Book — ^Friendship  with  Sala 
—The  Era,  the  Man  in  the  Moon— Shirley  as  "  Poet." 

EANWHILE  Shirley  Brooks 
was  living  with  his  parents 
in  Pleasant  Row,  IsHngton,  . 
not  a  very  luxurious  home  j 
apparently,  for  there  he 
occupied  a  little  bedroom 
into  which  he  ''  descended 
by  a  sort  of  ladder/'  But 
it  was  for  him  a  very 
important  room,  for  there  he  penned  what  curiously 
enough  he  imagined  to  be  the  first  verses  "  of  his 
very  own "  which  were  to  receive  the  baptism  of 
printer's  ink.  I  say  ''  he  imagined,"  for  thereby  a 
curious  tale  hangs.  The  verses  appeared  in  the  year 
1834  in  Mrs.  Cornwall  Baron  Wilson's  Uttle  journal, 
the  Weekly  Belle  Assemblee.  They  were  what 
Shirley  called  nearly  forty  years  later  ''  some  young- 
fellow  verses,  which  I  thought  smart — and  they 
described  what  the  satirized  world  would  do  in  1835 — 
and  what  I  should  do.  I  remember  the  noble  and 
highly  superior  levity  of  the  last  verse  : — 

26 


UNCONSCIOUS  PLAGIARISM 

"  '  And  I  shall  sit  by  with  a  careless  eye, 

All  changes  to  me  the  same, 
And  rattle  the  dice,  or  star  the  ice. 

Or  wing,  or  play  my  game  ; 
And  when  sleep  I  need  I  perchance  shall  read  ; 

Or  my  quill  or  my  cab  may  drive — 
And  the  girl  I  adore  in  '34 

I  shall  worship  in  *35.'  " 

To  which  he  appends  a  list  of  notes  to  the  effect  that 
he  never  had  a  careless  eye,  but  was  always  very 
enthusiastic  ;  that  the  second  line  was  untrue,  because 
he  was  then  as  always  a  hot  Tory  ;  that  he  never 
rattled  the  dice  then  or  since  except,  as  we  know,  to 
play  a  little  backgammon  ;  that  the  prophecy  failed 
as  regards  starring  the  ice,  for  he  had  never  skated 
since  ;  that  he  had  never  shot  a  *'  bird/*  so  *'  winging  '' 
his  game  was  out  of  the  question  ;  *  that  he  never 
attained  such  luxury  as  to  drive  a  cabriolet  of  his  own  ; 
and  that  up  to  that  time  he  had  never  been  in  love. 
However,  he  did  not  think  the  verses  very  much  amiss. 
Besides  which,  they  had  some  importance  as  the 
advance  guard  of  the  innumerable  columns  of  verses 
which  were  to  win  him  his  laurels  on  many  a  literary 
field.  But  here  comes  the  tragedy  of  the  thing.  He 
never  composed  the  verses  at  all.  This  he  found  out 
just  thirty-seven  years  later.  Then,  when  he  was 
editor  of  Punchy  the  fact  burst  upon  him  Hke  a  thunder- 
clap. He  had  taken  up  to  bed  an  old  copy  of  the 
Mirror,  published  years  before  the  Weekly  Belle 
AssemUee  had  been  dreamed  of,  and  there,  to  his 
dismay,  he  discovered  the  verses  which  he  had  published 

*  Apparently  he  remembered  that  field-fares  were  not  "  game." 

27 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

over  his  own  name  and  had  always  believed  to  be  the 
product  of  his  own  originality,  printed  and  published 
with  some  sHght  variation  over  a  name  which  was  not 
his  !  *'  I  must,"  he  wrote,  *'  have  read  them,  and  the 
resolve  to  surpass  them  must  have  come,  and  been 
acted  on,  and  then  I  totally  dismissed  the  original 
from  my  mind,  and  would,  until  last  week,  have  sworn 
that  I  had  never  seen  them.  I  note  this  nonsense, 
because  it  shows  how  honestly  a  man  may  be  deceived 
by  his  own  memory,  or  want  of  memory."  That  he 
was  perfectly  'innocent  in  the  matter  is  obvious. 
Whether  he  would  have  been  able  to  prove  his  innocence 
in  a  court  of  law  may  be  doubted. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  Frase/s  Magazine  first  fell 
into  his  hands  and,  more  especially  by  its  ''  Gallery  of 
Illustrious  Literary  Characters,"  excited  his  ambition 
to  become  a  recruit  in  the  army  of  the  Mighty  Pen. 
Referring  in  after  life  to  WilHam  Maginn^s  ''biographico- 
critical "  descriptions  attached  to  Machse's  portraits, 
there  was,  as  he  said,  ''  good  smart  abuse  in  some  of 
the  Maginnery,"  but  that  made  it  all  the  more  piquant, 
for  here  were  all  the  literary  giants  of  the  day  getting 
their  whippings  in  pubHc  at  the  hands  of  the  irascible 
Doctor  just  like  any  pack  of  schoolboys,  and  taking 
their  whippings  lying  down. 

Curiously  enough,  the  only  other  literary  fact  that 

floats  up  from  these  days  was  remotely  connected, 

though  he  probably  knew  nothing  about  it,  with  this 

"  Randy,  brandy,  bandy,  no  Dandy, 
Rollicking  jig  of  an  Irishman." 

Maginn  had  been  asked  to  write  Byron's  '*  Life," 

28 


THE  CORONATION 

but,  though  by  no  means  a  squeamish  person,  had 
steadfastly  refused,  shrinking  aghast  from  what  Bates 
called  its  *'  hideous  apocalypse."  And  Shirley, 
reading  in  1873  the  Biography  which  Maginn  had  not 
written,  recalled  how  he  had  heard  Daniel  Wilson 
preach  against  the  book  in  Islington  Church,  adding  in 
his  diary,  '*  WeU,  the  story  of  the  Itahan  Hfe  is  not 
exactly  tea-table  reading."     As  indeed  it  is  not. 

Of  literary  landmarks  there  are  none  other  at  this 
period,  although  he  was  probably  then  as  in  later  life 
an  omnivorous  reader.  Indeed,  of  landmarks  of  any 
sort  these  years  are  peculiarly  bare,  but  one  date, 
June  28th,  1838,  stood  out  in  memory  for  the  rest  of 
his  Hfe,  notable  for  two  things.  Firstly,  that  Queen 
Victoria  was  crowned.  Secondly,  that  on  that  day 
'*  Mr.  Pepys  "  (as  he  liked  to  call  himself  in  his  diaries) 
*'  left  off  shaving  his  whiskers." 

'*  Well  remember  the  day,"  he  writes,  ''  and  how 
I  vainly  had  tried  (knowing  nobody)  to  get  a  ticket 
for  the  Abbey,  and  how,  by  virtue  of  a  shilling  I  did 
get  in,  close  behind  the  John  St.  party,  who  had 
tickets  from  Lord  Glenelg,  and  I  saw  the  Queen  come 
into  the  nave,  crowned  and  sceptred,  also  saw  Soult's 
silver-mounted  carriage.  Also  left  off  shaving  my 
cheeks  that  day,  which  is,  therefore,  on  all  accounts, 
memorable  in  the  history  of  the  universe." 
From  which  we  gather  that  at  the  age  of  twenty-three 
he  was  becoming  interested  in  his  personal  appearance, 
that  up  to  1838  he  had  been  clean  shaven,  and  that 
henceforward  for  some  years  he  presented  a  pair  of 
**  mutton-chops  "  to  an  admiring  world. 

Touching  his  appearance,  Edmund  Yates,  who  knew 

29 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

him  as  a  young  man,  says  that  he  was  singularly 
handsome  and  thoroughly  English-looking,  with  well- 
cut  features,  fresh  complexion  and  bright  eyes.  This 
is  corroborated  by  Sala,  who  knew  him  as  early  as 
1832  and  says  he  was  ''  eminently  handsome  with  the 
clearest  of  complexions  and  a  lustrous,  speaking  eye." 
And  Mrs.  Pant  on  (Miss  *'  Sissie  ''  Frith),  who  knew  him 
in  later  years,  tells  me  that  he  had  beautiful  hands  and 
feet,  of  which  he  was  very  proud,  and  that  he  always 
dressed  well.  As  to  the  colour  of  his  eyes  there  is  the 
usual  discrepancy  of  evidence,  one  lady  asserting 
that  he  had  ''  clear  blue  eyes,"  another  being  equally 
sure  that  they  were  ''  bright  brown." 

These  things  are  just  worth  recording,  but  we 
cannot  yet  get  on  terms  of  intimacy  with  the  man. 
Later  on  we  shall  shake  him  by  the  hand  and  talk 
with  him  face  to  face. 

Nor  do  we  know  how  he  managed  to  emancipate 
himself  from  the  profession  for  which  he  had  no  love. 
Probably  by  gradual  degrees.  The  only  certain  thing 
is  that  it  was  not  long  before  he  tried  the  experiment 
of  living  by  his  pen.  Yates,  who  knew,  says  that 
*'  as  soon  as  he  could  swim  without  the  corks  of  law  he 
]et  them  float  away  and  managed  to  keep  his  head  up, 
not,  however,  without  more  struggle  than  would  be 
pleasant  to,  or  even  good  for,  everybody.  But  the 
world  comes  to  everyone  who  will  wait — and  work ; 
and  it  came  to  him."  It  was  just  *'  the  prosy  tale  of 
sheer  industry  gradually  acquiring  lucrative  employ- 
ment." And  the  one  thing  that  made  him  most  sure 
of  ultimate  success  was  the  business  conscience  which 

30 


LITERARY  CHARACTERISTICS 

he  brought  to  his  work.  He  always  said  he  was  a 
workman,  and  as  a  workman  bound  to  be  punctual 
with  his  '*  copy."  There  was  no  prating  about  inspira- 
tion and  no  waiting  for  it.  If  the  Muse  was  lazy, 
the  jade  must  be  whipped  into  activity,  and  whipped 
she  accordingly  was. 

Nor  was  he  one  of  those  who  allowed  his  Pegasus 
to  grow  weak  for  lack  of  feeding.  As  Blanchard 
Jerrold  well  said  of  him,  in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine, 
after  his  death  : — 

''  In  him  we  boasted  in  England  a  thorough  man  of 
letters ;  an  artist  who  dwelt  incessantly  in  art ;  a 
literary  man  for  ever  steeped  in  books — ^thinking 
books  and  talking  books.  All  his  outward  expression 
took  literary  form.  I  feel  certain  that  when  he  had 
once  put  the  law  aside  for  letters  (a  transaction  of  his 
early  youth),  he  never  thought  for  a  day  of  getting 
away  from  his  bookshelves.  He  was  a  hterary  man 
of  the  old,  gay,  French  type,  and  appeared  to  be  quite 
unconscious  that  there  were  paths  in  life  less  steep 
to  climb  than  his.  There  was  a  serene  content  in  him, 
which  stood  by  him  through  all  the  fortunes  of  his 
career.  He  would  parry  a  disappointment  with  an  apt 
quotation,  and  close  a  transaction  with  a  mot.  He  had 
a  bright  memory  and  an  alert  intellect  ;  so  that  his  wit 
and  humour  were  perpetually  fed  and  enriched  from 
the  ample  stores  of  his  reading.  He  was  no  recluse, 
for  ever  setting  his  heel  towards  the  faces  of  men  ; 
but  a  joyous,  sociable  dweller  in  the  midst  of  his  kind. 
Yet  he  seemed  to  be  always  just  clear  of  his  study. 
He  had  always  something  fresh-dug  from  his  shelves, 
that  he  made  to  sparkle  on  the  topic  of  the  hour. 
A  happy  illustration  of  a  homely  incident  dehghted 
him.     You  could  not  get  him  out  of  literature,  in 

31 


SHIRLEY   BROOKS 

short ;  and  in  this  quality  of  thoroughness  he  resem- 
bled, I  repeat,  an  old  French  type  of  savant  that  is  now 
unfortunately  passing  away.  .  .  .  Shirley  Brooks 
threw  the  grace  and  learning  of  his  art  about  freely, 
for  the  very  love  of  it.  It  belted  him,  as  the  atmosphere 
belts  and  encloses  the  earth.'* 

In  a  word,  he  was  thorough.     Further,  he  was  an 

enthusiast   and   ambitious.     He   saw   that   the    Man 

of  Letters  wielded  the  most  powerful  of  weapons,  that 

the  point  of  the  pen  goes  deeper  than  the  point  of  the 

sharpest  sword,  and  he  determined  to  be  ready  with 

his  when 

"  Kommt  der  Augenblick  im  Leben, 
Der  Wahrhaft  wichtig  ist  und  gross." 

From  one  of  those  tantalising  notes,  by  which  the 
biographer  is  often  faced,  it  would  appear  that  his 
career  as  a  literary  man  began  seriously  in  the  year 
1843,  for  just  thirty  years  later  he  writes  :  *'  Made  out 
from  diaries  my  literary  history — i.e.,  in  what  years 
I  was  engaged  on  what  work  from  1843  to  1859.'* 
Those  notes  are  lost,  together  with  so  much  else,  but 
we  must  I  suppose  be  thankful  even  for  such  a  small 
mercy  as  the  date  which  he  looked  back  upon  as  his 
professional  starting  point. 

He  had  written  sporadically  before,  but  he  was  in 
his  twenty-ninth  year  before  he  definitely  adopted  the 
profession  of  letters. 

Although  I  have  seen  it  stated,  and  it  is  probably 

true,  that  his  first  articles  were  written  for  the  Argus, 

the  earliest  of  his  work  that  I  have  been  able  to  identify 

\   is  to  be  found  in  AinswortKs  Magazine  for  1842,  the 

32 


''AINSWORTffS  MAGAZINE" 

first  year  of  the  short-lived  collaboration  between 
Ainsworth  and  George  Cruikshank,  which  was  the 
outcome  of  the  artistes  quarrel  with  Richard  Bentley. 
In  that  year  he  is  represented  by  half-a-dozen  con- 
tributions, all  signed  **  Charles  W.  Brooks/*  for  he 
had  not  yet  assumed  the  name  of  '*  Shirley."  In  the 
first  of  these  contributions,  entitled  '*  The  Masque 
'  off '  Comus,"  he  makes  irreverent  use  of  Milton's 
great  poem,  professing  to  reprint  from  the  Morning 
Post  of  June  22nd,  1634,  ''  the  Great  Abduction  Case," 
in  which  the  Right  Hon.  the  Earl  of  Comus  and  the 
Lady  Alice  Egerton  are  the  protagonists.  It  is  just  the 
sort  of  cheap  funniment  with  which  the  literary  aspirant 
manages  to  get  past  the  editorial  chair,  either  by  favour 
or  when  some  one  of  inexperience  is  on  the  seat  of 
judgment. 

This  was  followed  by  "An  Evening  with  Nell 
Gwynne,"  quite  a  readable  enough  episode  in  the  life 
of  that  fascinatingly  wicked  young  person,  describing 
how  she  managed  to  "  get  even  "  with  the  rakish 
Duke  of  Buckingham.  The  most  interesting  thing 
about  it  to  me  is  the  use  he  makes  of  the  word  *'  im- 
possible "  as  equivalent  to  "  utterly  unsuitable  "  in 
the  sentence  ''  The  damsel  .  .  .  arrived  in  London  in 
an  impossible  hat."  Murray,  I  see,  gives  Carlyle  in 
1858  as  his  authority,  sixteen  years  later.  It  would 
be  interesting  to  know  whether  it  owes  its  parentage 
to  Charles  W.  Brooks. 

Next  comes  ''  The  Lounge  in  the  (Eil  de  Boeuf," 
a  lively  enough  conversation  amongst  the  hangers-on 
of  Louis  XIV's  court,  in  which  the  author  adopts  the 

33 

4— (3*97) 


< 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

now  exploded  notion  that  the  French  peasantry  of 
that  time  were  downtrodden  and  miserable  as  were 
their  neighbours  in  Germany,  a  view  which  Thackeray 
also  takes  in  the  *'  Four  Georges/'  prompted  thereto 
doubtless  by  Voltaire's  powerful  defence  of  the  serfs 
in  the  Jura.  Which  only  goes  to  show  what  was 
certain  to  be  the  case,  that  the  young  writer  was 
cribbing  and  converting  to  his  own  use  facts  or  no-facts 
which  he  gleaned  from  such  books  as  fell  in  his 
way  or  from  deliberate  study  at  that  emporium 
of  stale  thought,  the  Reading  Room  of  the  British 
Museum. 

After  this  came  in  quick  succession  ''  The  Shrift  on 
the  Raft,*'  a  tale  fashioned  on  the  model  which  was 
perfected  by  Edgar  Allan  Poe  ;  "  The  Walls  of  Fama- 
gusta  "  (Vol.  II,  p,  264) ;  "  The  Guerillas  of  Leon  '' 
(Vol.  II,  p.  445) ;  ''  State  and  Prospects  of  the 
Legitimate  Drama  in  Japan  *'  (Vol.  Ill,  p.  51) ; 
''  What  Became  of  the  Executioner ''  (Vol.  Ill, 
p.  256) ;  and  *'  Cousin  Emily,'*  a  story  in  two  parts 
(Vol.  Ill,  p.  258).  They  are  only  mentioned  for  the 
guidance  of  the  curious,  and  not  for  any  remarkable 
promise. 

Their  importance  Hes  in  the  fact  that  through  them 
he  was  brought  into  contact  with  such  men  as  Harrison 
Ainsworth,  Blanchard  Jerrold  and  their  friends,  who 
were  not  long  in  discovering  that  in  addition  to  wielding 
a  promising  pen  he  possessed  social  quaUties  and  a 
ready  wit  which  made  him  an  acceptable  acquisition  to 
their  literary  circles. 

Beginning  as  a  free-lance,  he  soon  commended  himself 

34 


"ILLUSTRATED  LONDON  NEWS" 

to  the  far-sighted  caterers  for  a  reading  public,  which 
was  now  clamouring  for  entertainment. 

Those  were  times  of  great  activity  and  enterprise 
in  the  periodical  world.  Herbert  Ingram,  who  had 
removed  from  Nottingham  to  London  to  advertise  a 
pill,  remained  to  found  the  Illustrated  London  News  in 
1842.  Bentley's  Miscellany  had  started  on  its  remark- 
ably successful  career  but  a  few  years  before,  and  was 
looking  out  for  Hkely  young  men.  The  Eray  the  Man 
in  the  Moon,  the  Morning  Chronicle  were  all  on  the 
alert  for  recruits,  and  one  and  all  discovered  quahties 
in  Shirley  Brooks  which  answered  to  their  varied 
requirements.  He  was  prepared  to  do  anything  and 
go  anywhere.  He  had  a  ready  pen,  a  gigantic  memory, 
a  well-equipped  brain.  Above  all,  he  was  business-Uke 
and  punctual.     He  could  be  depended  upon. 

What  were  the  exact  dates  at  which  he  first  began 
to  contribute  to  each  of  these  publications  cannot  be 
ascertained  and  is  not  of  much  moment.  The 
important  thing  is  that  they  all  had  their  share,  during 
the  eight  years  from  1843  to  1851,  in  preparing  him 
for  what  was  to  be  the  work  of  his  Ufe.  For  the 
Illustrated  Londo7i  News  he  did  everything  by  turn 
and  everything  well,  as  was  proved  by  the  fact  that  he 
continued  in  its  employ  for  more  than  a  quarter-of-a- 
century.  Weekly  articles  on  the  politics  of  the  day  ; 
leading  articles  too  numerous  to  mention,  almost  too 
many  to  count ;  long  series  of  chatty  paragraphs, 
literary  and  social,  entitled  ''  By  the  Way "  and 
"  Nothing  in  the  Papers  "  ;  verses  "  written  up  "  to 
illustrations  ;  stories  and  occasional  pieces  of  all  sorts, 

35 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

poured  forth  in  apparently  limitless  quantities  from  his 
untiring  pen.* 

So  it  was  with  the  Era,  and  so  it  was  with  the 
Morning  Chronicle,  of  which  more  will  be  said  in  its 
place. 

Beginning,  as  every  writer  for  the  Press  must  begin, 
by  knocking  at  the  doors  of  editors,  he  soon  had  most 
of  the  editors  of  the  day  knocking  at  his. 

Of  course,  he  had  his  ups  and  downs.  He  knew 
drudgery  and  disappointment.  But  he  had  a  stout 
heart,  good  spirits,  a  strong  digestion,  at  least  in  these 
early  days,  and  full  confidence  that  the  world  was  his 
oyster  which  he  with  pen  would  open. 

By  1844  we  find  him  free  of  the  parental  roof  and 
living  in  bachelor  chambers  at  No.  4  Frith  Street, 
Soho.  This  I  learn  from  the  following  note  kindly 
sent  by  Mr.  Sidney  Jennings  : — 

'*  It  may  be  of  interest  to  many  Freemasons  to  know 
that '  Charles  William  Shirley  Brooks,  of  4  Frith  Street, 
Soho,  Esquire,  proposed  by  Bro.  J.  Strutt,  P.M.,  and 
seconded  by  Bro.  Fred  Montague,  Secy.,  was  balloted 
for,  and  duly  elected  and  initiated  as  a  member  of 

*  He  certainly  contributed  to  the  Illustrated  London  News  as  early 
as  1852,  for  in  1871  a  lady  enquired  in  Notes  and  Queries  where  she 
could  find  certain  verses  on  "  St.  Pancras's  Bell."  Shirley,  a 
constant  contributor  of  answers,  remembered  that  he  was  their 
author,  that  they  were  published  in  the  Illustrated  London  News, 
and  that  they  were  "  writ  in  those  dull  chambers  in  Pall  Mall,  just 
before  my  tide  tamed."  They  appeared  on  Jan.  17th,  1852,  but 
had  been  written  as  long  before  as  1849.  And  he  adds  :  "  E.  L. 
(his  wife)  is  good  enough  to  call  them  clever.  I  know  their  author 
thought  them  so  when  he  was  making  them." 

36 


''  SHIRLEY  '' 

St.  Thomas's  Lodge,  No.  166  (now  No.  142)  at  an 
emergency  meeting  held  at  the  Freemason's  Tavern, 
June  25th,  1844.'  Bro.  Brooks  appears  to  have  been 
a  regular  subscriber,  and  attended  to  his  Masonic 
duties  for  some  years,  and  after  serving  in  the  several 
offices  became  Master  of  the  Lodge,  Jan.  8th,  1848. 
His  last  recorded  attendance  appears  to  have  been 
March  1st,  1851,  although  the  P.M.'s  Jewel  voted  him 
subsequently  was  received  and  acknowledged  on  his 
behalf  '  by  Bro.  WilHam  Brooks  for  his  absent  brother.' " 

The  following  year  Shirley  proposed  his  brother 
William,  architect,  of  Percy  Street,  who  was  duly 
elected,  and,  in  1847,  appointed  Secretary  of  the  Lodge. 

The  above  note  has,  besides  its  general  drift,  an 
incidental  importance  which  should  not  be  overlooked, 
for  here  for  the  first  time  we  find  Brooks  assuming  the 
''  front  "  name  of  ''  Shirley." 

The  writer  in  the ''  Dictionary  of  National  Biography  " 
is  mistaken  when  he  says  that  his  Christian  names  were 
''  Charles  WilHam  Shirley,"  for  it  is  an  undoubted  fact 
that  he  was  baptized  plain  ''  Charles  William." 
Exactly  at  what  period  he  first  assumed  the  third 
name  I  cannot  discover.  Indeed,  there  is  some  reason 
to  suppose  that  this  pen-name  was  not  adopted  per 
saltum,  but  that  first  came  "  Rivers,"  a  play  upon 
**  Brooks,"  that  then  came  ''  Rivers-Brooks,"  and 
finally  *'  Shirley."  If  this  is  so,  then  I  venture  to 
suggest  what  may  have  led  up  to  it.  The  reasoning 
is,  I  am  aware,  not  conclusive,  but  I  give  it  for  what 
it  is  Worth. 

Brooks,  as  we  know,  was  a  voracious  reader,  par- 
ticularly of  early  plays.     For  more  than  150  years  the 

37 


SHIRLEY   BROOKS 

reputation  of  the  Elizabethan  dramatist,  James 
Shirley,  had  suffered  eclipse.  Lately  interest  had  been 
revived,  and  in  1833  Alexander  Dyce  had  brought  out 
a  new  edition  of  his  plays.  This  revival  of  interest 
could  hardly  have  escaped  Brooks's  attention.  Now, 
James  Shirley  had  for  some  reason  or  other  adopted 
the  pen-name,  Rivers.  What  more  natural  than  that 
this  should  have  suggested  to  Brooks,  casting  about 
for  a  better  pen-name  than  the  mere  punning  one  of 
Rivers,  one  which  had  some  literary  flavour,  and 
would  also  mark  his  traditionary  descent  from  Laurence 
Shirley,  Earl  Ferrers  ? 

That  he  loathed  his  name  of  "  Charles ''  is  certain, 
for  Mrs.  Panton  well  remembers  in  later  days  that, 
when  Yates  wanted  to  annoy  his  friend,  he  would 
address  him  as  ''  Charles,'*  just  as  Shirley  himself 
when  he  wished  to  annoy  Yates  would  address  him  as 
*'  Hodgson,"  Yates's  second  name. 

Anyhow,  there  were  people  who  envied  him  the 
successful  assumption.  There  was,  for  example,  the 
author-artist,  Blackburn,  who  said  one  day  to  Sir 
Francis  Burnand  : — 

''  What  a  good  name  is  Shirley  Brooks's.  A  fortune. 
A  man  with  such  a  name  has  only  to  write  it  up,  and 
go  to  bed,  and  people  would  crowd  in  to  put  gold  and 
silver  into  his  hand." 

And  John  Cordy  Jeaffreson  wrote  in  his  "  Book  of 
Recollections  "  with  ill-concealed  envy  of  a  far  abler 
and  more  successful  man  than  himself  : — 

'*  Authors  are  apt  to  be  fanciful  about  their  names. 
.  .  .    Charles  Shirley  Brooks,  whilom  editor  of  Punch, 

38 


NOMS-DE-PLUME 

called  himself  Shirley,  not  because  it  was  his  name  by 
baptismal  rite,  but  because  he  wished  to  hear  himself 
called  Shirley.  Had  he  foreseen  that  the  satiric 
humour  of  the  literary  coteries  would  convert '  Shirley  ' 
into  *  Shallow '  as  a  more  appropriate  name  for  a 
gentleman  who  was  the  reverse  of  profound,  he  would 
perhaps  have  remained  plain  Charles  Brooks/* 

''  Shallow  Brooks  ''  is  certainly  rather  funny,  but  it 
misses  its  point,  seeing  that  Shirley  did  not  pose  as 
profound. 

Anyhow,  "  Shirley  "  he  assumed,  and  as  Shirley  he 
will  always  be  known. 

In  Punchy  as  we  shall  see,  much  of  his  woik  appeared 
over  the  signature  '*  Epicurus  Rotundus,''  varied  on 
one  occasion  to  ''  Epicurius  Arthriticus,"  and  in  the 
Musical  World  over  that  of  ''  ZamieFs  Owl ''  ;  whilst 
in  Notes  and  Queries  and  other  periodicals  to  which 
he  occasionally  contributed  he  would  assume  any  pen- 
name  that  occurred  to  him  at  the  moment  of  writing. 
Thus  "  K.T.R.P.''  would  stand  for  ''  Kent  Terrace, 
Regent's  Park,**  where  he  Hved  for  many  years,  and 
the  mystification  caused  by  such  an  unusual  con- 
catenation of  initials  was  to  him  the  source  of  a  very 
lively  satisfaction. 

The  same  year  which  saw  Shirley  initiated  as  a 
Freemason  also  saw  the  termination  of  the  partnership 
between  Ainsworth  and  George  Cruikshank,  and  found 
"  the  inimitable  George  **  ever  ready  with  a  fresh  idea, 
conceiving  the  Table  Book,  a  monthly  magazine 
destined  to  a  brief  but  glorious  career.  Shirley  at  once 
became  a  contributor. 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

Gilbert  k  Beckett  was  the  literary  editor,  and  for 
the  first  time  the  future  Punch  editor  found  himself 
employed  alongside  the  young  Punch  giants,  Mark 
Lemon,  ''  Michael  Angelo  Tit  marsh/'  and  Horace 
Mayhew,  with  whom  he  was  later  on  to  be  so  closely 
connected.  But  there  was  much  to  happen  before  he 
stormed  and  took  the  position  which  he  afterwards 
held  against  all  comers. 

Nor  were  his  chances  improved  by  the  intimacy 
which  now  sprang  up  between  him  and  George  Augustus 
Sala,  an  intimacy  which  lasted,  though  not  without 
interruption,  through  the  many  vicissitudes  of  that 
'*  turgid  "  writer's  somewhat  erratic  career,  and  was 
only  terminated  by  death. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  '*  graceless  young  whelp,*' 
as  Mark  Lemon  called  Sala,  was  by  no  means  a  persona 
grata  to  the  Punch  people,  who  never  forgave  the 
cleverly  vindictive  ''  Word  with  Punch "  until  Sir 
Francis  Burnand  called  a  truce.  Indeed,  Shirley 
himself,  during  his  editorship,  carried  on  the  sentiment 
as  a  sort  of  dynastic  vendetta,  and  kept  Sala's  name 
on  Punch's  Index  Expurgatorius.*  Nevertheless,  out- 
side the  sacred  enclosure,  he  befriended  him  in  every 
possible  way,  although,  as  I  have  said,  there  were  times 
of  estrangement,  especially  when,  in  Sir  Francis 
Burnand's  words  : —  f 

"  He  and  George  Augustus  Sala  had  a  violent  passage 
of  arms  in  print,  Sala  having  severely  criticised  *  The 

*  Vide  Mr.  M.  H.  Spielmann's  invaluable  "  History  of  Punch," 
et  passim. 

t  In  the  Pall  Mall  Magazine. 

40 


THE   ''ERA*' 

Naggletons/  *  and  Shirley  having  sharply  replied  in 
Punch,  where,  with  the  article,  appeared  a  small 
caricature  of  Sala.  But  not  long  after  this  they 
embraced,  and  were  again  on  friendly  terms.  All  was 
temporarily  forgiven  ;  but  nothing,  on  either  side,  was 
forgotten/' 

By  good  fortune,  about  this  time  there  fell  into  the 
hands  of  Ledger  of  the  Era  a  little  play  entitled  *'  The 
Creole,"  of  which  something  will  be  said  later  on,  with 
which  Shirley  had  lately  made  his  first  theatrical 
success.  Impressed  by  its  promise  of  future  things. 
Ledger  undertook  its  publication  in  book  form,  thus 
inaugurating  another  connection  which  lasted  almost 
to  the  end  of  Shirley's  life.  Many  times  he  sought  to 
sever  it,  but  Ledger  would  not  be  denied,  and  from  the 
year  1847  to  the  year  1871  his  work  continued,  almost 
without  intermission,  to  appear  in  the  Era's  pages. 
This  was  important  enough,  but  the  year  was  big  with 
greater  issues. 

Punch  had  not  reached  his  seventh  year  of  existence 
without  exciting  the  rivalry  of  those  clever  men  for 
whom  no  room  could  be  found  in  what  was  then  one 
of  the  closest  of  boroughs.  Of  these  one  of  the  bitterest 
was  Albert  Smith,  who,  either  because  he  could  not 
agree  with  Mark  Lemon,  or  because  he  could  not 
withstand  the  open  hostility  of  Jerrold,  had  long  since 
severed  his  connection  with  his  old  colleagues.  Actuated 
by  the  bitterest  motives,  he  pitched  upon  Angus  B. 
Reach  to  second  him  in  his  campaign.  And  between 
them  these  two  malcontents  started  the  ablest  and 

*  Shirley's  Punch  serial. 

41 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

wittiest  of  Punch's  rivals,  the  little  quarto  monthly, 
the  Man  in  the  Moon,  the  first  number  of  which 
appeared  on  Jan.  1st,  1847. 

Between  Reach  and  Shirley  Brooks  there  existed  the 
closest  friendship,  and  it  was  probably  through  Reach's 
influence  that  Shirley  was  asked  to  join  the  staff,  a 
good  turn  which  Shirley  found  opportunity  of  repaying 
with  interest  by  and  by. 

It  may  here  be  said  that  to  do  Shirley  a  good  turn 
was  one  of  the  best  investments  a  man  could  make. 
Indeed,  it  was  by  no  means  a  bad  investment  to  do 
him  an  ill  one.  He  never  forgot  the  first,  but  he  soon 
forgave  the  last,  and  nothing  was  too  troublesome  if 
a  friend — or  enemy — could  be  helped.  It  was  the  same 
in  small  things  as  in  great.  Who'll  back  a  bill  ? 
Shirley.  Who'll  act  as  secretary  to  a  testimonial  ? 
Shirley.  Who'll  propose  or  second  me  for  the 
"  Garrick  "  ?  Shirley.  I  want  a  box  for  the  theatre. 
Ask  Shirley.  A  subscription.  Oh,  you  can  put  down 
Shirley  without  asking.  He's  certain  to  give.  It  had 
its  drawbacks,  of  course,  for  people  sponged  on  him 
to  an  unconscionable  extent,  but  it  was  a  characteristic 
which  must  be  borne  in  mind. 

It  was  the  Man  in  the  Moon  which  gave  Shirley  his 
first  real  opportunity  of  proving  the  capacity  which 
he  possessed  for  turning  out  witty  and  satirical  work 
at  a  moment's  notice. 

From  the  first  the  little  paper  set  itself  to  do  what 
Cruikshank  threatened  on  a  well-known  occasion — 
to  go  down  to  the  Punch  office  ''  and  knock  the  old 
rascal's  wooden  head  about." 

42 


"MAN   IN  THE  MOON" 

It  published  the  sketch  of  a  man  speechless  with 
amazement  entitled  ''  Portrait  of  a  Gentleman  Finding 
a  Joke  in  Punch."  It  offered  five  hundred  pounds 
reward  and  a  free  pardon  to  one  of  the  Punch  artists 
if  he  would  appear  before  the  Man  in  the  Moon  and 
satisfactorily  explain  the  meaning  of  his  cut  entitled 
''  Horrible  Tragedy  in  Domestic  Life/'  * 

Again,  it  brought  ''  A  Serious  Charge  "  against  its 
rival  of  Hfting  jokes  bodily  from  its  own  pages, 
concluding  with  the  words  : — 

''  Why,  Punch — you  who  are  always  the  first  to  cry 
out  about  picking  and  stealing — what  are  you  about  ? 
For  goodness'  sake,  turn  over  a  new  leaf  or  we  shall 
have  you  so  reduced  in  circumstances  as  to  be  found 
haunting  our  offices,  begging  bits  of  superfluous 
manuscript  and  crying  '  Any  Jo',  Jo'  ;  any  old  Jo'  ?  '  " 

To  which  was  appended  a  drawing  of  Punch  as  a 
peripatetic  old  Jew  merchant. 

But  it  was  left  to  Shirley  Brooks  to  give  the  shrewdest 
blows  of  all  in  his  rough  but  brilliant  verses  entitled 
"  Our  FHght  with  Punch''  And  when  later  Mark 
Lemon  discovered  their  authorship,  he  said,  ''  That 
young  man  is  formidable.  He  must  be  sought  as  an 
ally."  They  are  too  many  to  quote  at  length,  but  their 
quality  may  be  gathered  from  the  following  : — 

**  Up  !  Up  !  thou  dreary  Hunchback  !    Ere  her  diamond  stud,  the 
Sun 
Stick  in  Aurora's  habit-shirt,  there's  business  must  be  done. 

*  Here,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Man  in  the  Moon  overshot  his 
mark,  for  Thackeray  was  the  artist  of  the  unsigned  "  cut "  in 

43 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

The  saucy  stars  are  winking  at  the  planets  on  their  beat — 

Up  !  thou  hast  grovelled  long  and  low — -a  change  will  be  a  treat. 

«  *  4c  *  ♦ 

And  now  away.     Still  not  away  ?     What  clog  forbids  our  start  ? 
What  is  that  weight  thou  claspest  'gainst  what  should  be  thy 

heart  ? 
Ay,  as  we  deemed,  'tis  Cant,  foul  Cant — ^thine  unforsaken  leaven — 
Deem'st  thou  such  mockery  may  mount  and  cleave  its  way  to 

Heaven  ? 

*  4t  *■  n^  * 

We'll  clear  thy  brains.    Look  westerly.    See  where  yon  Palace 

stands ; 
Stains  of  the  mud  flung  there  by  thee  are  on  thy  dirty  hands. 
We  will  not  brand  thee  Atheist — ^we  know  thou  dreadst  that 

sting — 
Yet,  vaunting  loud  thy  *  fear  of  God,'  how  '  honourest  thou  the 

King  ? ' 

mm*** 

Less  need  to  pause  o'er  lesser  sins,  o'er  scandal  random-flung ; 
O'er  gird  and  sneer  unmeet  for  pen — ^scarce  pardoned  to  the 
tongue. 

*  *  *  *  * 

Less  need  to  pause  o'er  fantasies,  whined  in  Utopian  tune, 
Engendered  'mid  tobacco  clouds — ^baptised  in  the  spittoon. 

*  *  *  *  * 

Back !   foolish  Hunchback,  to  the  course  that  whilom  made  thy 

fame. 
Back !    to  thy  lawful  quarry,  to  thy  Jove-appointed  game. 
Shoot  folly  as  it  flies  ;   but  shoot  it  with  the  arrowy  joke — 
Not  with  the  brazen  blunderbuss,  all  bellow  and  black  smoke. 

Give  us,  once  more,  the  playful  wit  that  notched  the  legal  saw^— 
That  sparkles  o'er  Hume's  History  now,  as  once  o'er  Blackstone's 
law; 


question,  and  the  quarrel  was  with  Lemon  and  Jerrold,  not  with 
Thackeray  and  k  Beckett,  to  whose  fine  work  the  editors  laid 
themselves  out  to  give  ample  recognition  and  generous  praise. 

44 


"OUR  FLIGHT  WITH   'PUNCH'" 

Give  us  the  truthful,  social  sketch,  drawn  by  Titmarshian  skill, 
With  colour  bright  as  Dickens's,  and  pencil  keener  still. 

Give  us  the  shower  of  quip  and  crank  ;  the  whimsy  and  the  wile ; 
Murder  vain  Fashion's  shapeless  brood,  but  murder  with  a  smile; 
Poison  the  rats  of  Westminster  with  Hamlet's  *  poisoned  jest :  ' 
And  stab,  as  once  Harmodius  stabbed,  with  steel  in  myrtle  dressed. 

Then  shall  smart  newsmen  cease  to  curse,  returning  half  thy 

quires  ; 
Then  with  thy  sheets  pale  publishers  shall  cease  to  feed  their  fires  ; 
Then  shall  thy  sale  be  reckoned,  Punch,  by  number,  not  by  weight ; 
Nor  inside  trunks,  nor  outside  cheese,  shalt  Hnger,  as  of  late." 
***** 

— (The  Man  in  the  Moon,  Vol.  Ill,  page  241.) 

Yates,  in  his  ''  Recollections/*  seems  to  throw  some 
doubt  on  the  authorship  of  these  verses  when  he  says, 
''  Admirable  as  these  verses  are,  they  were  not  oddly 
enough  included  in  the  posthumous  collection  of 
Shirley  Brooks's  poems,'*  forgetting  that  the  selections 
only  professed  to  be  from  the  Punch  contributions, 
and  not  reahsing  that  Messrs.  Bradbury  and  Evans, 
the  publishers  of  the  volume,  would  in  any  case  hardly 
go  out  of  their  way  to  revive  this  slashing  indictment 
of  their  own  paper. 

At  the  head  of  "  Our  FUght  with  Punch  "  is  a  cut 
depicting  the  Man  in  the  Moon  hauling  Punch  up  into 
the  clouds  by  the  tassel  of  his  cap,  a  pictorial  skit  on 
Doyle's  headpieces  to  Tom  Taylor's  ''  Our  Flight  with 
Russell "  and  ''  Our  FHght  with  Louis  Philippe," 
which  had  appeared  in  Punch  in  August  and  October 
of  the  same  year,  and  of  which  Shirley's  verses  were 
in  their  turn  a  clever  parody. 

Associated  with  Shirley  Brooks  on  the  Man  in  the 

45 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

Moon  were  James  Hannay,  Charles  Kenney,  Sala,  Hine, 
Henning,  and  the  French  caricaturist  "  Cham/'  who, 
together  with  Albert  Smith  and  Angus  Reach,  the  joint 
editors,  showed  a  formidable  front  to  their  arch-enemy. 
Nor  was  the  fact  that  Herbert  Ingram  was  proprietor 
of  the  venture  calculated  to  make  the  attack  less  bitter, 
for  were  not  *'  Parr's  Life  Pills  "  one  of  Punch's  favour- 
ite butts,  and  was  not  the  Illustrated  London  News  in 
its  early  days  one  gigantic  organisation  for  their 
advertisement  ?  Of  course  Punch  retaliated,  and  Mr. 
Spielmann  tells  how  it  was  one  of  Shirley's  attacks 
that  drew  from  Leech  his  picture  of  two  little  snobs 
in  a  low  coffee-house  : — 

*'  Punch  is  very  dummy  and  slow  this  week,  I 
think,"  says  the  first  disreputable-looking  *'  fast  man." 

'*  So  do  I,"  replies  the  other.  *'  It's  their  own  fault, 
too,  for  I  sent  'em  some  dem'd  funny  articles,  which  the 
humbugs  sent  me  back." 

''  That's  just  the  way  they  served  me,"  responds  his 
friend,  "  the  great  fools  !  " 

And  on  the  whole  I  think  Punch  had  the  best  of  the 
encounter.  His  champions  were,  taking  them  all 
round,  abler  men  than  his  opponents,  and  he  only  bided 
his  time  to  enlist  under  his  banner  the  best  of  those 
who  were  now  sowing  their  wild  oats.  Shirley  himself 
was  but  a  mercenary.  He  had  no  real  quarrel  with  the 
common  rival,  and  the  Punch  men  knew  this.  Even 
Jerrold,  whom  he  had  particularly  attacked,  eventually 
plumped  for  his  admission  to  the  Table,  and,  when  the 
time  came,  took  an  early  opportunity  of  referring  to 
him  as  "  the  most  rising  journaHst  of  the  day."     He 

46 


1 


"MAN   IN  THE  MOON" 

knew,  as  did  everyone  else,  that  the  righteous  indigna- 
tion of  these  young  bloods  was  but  the  stage-thunder 
of  an  elaborate  make-believe,  and  that  they  barked 
loud  rather  to  attract  attention  to  themselves  than 
with  any  great  expectation  of  warning  off  evil-doers. 
And  in  this  they  were  not  unlike  a  good  many  gentlemen 
of  the  Press  in  these  days. 

So  Shirley  was  left  to  cut  his  literary  wisdom-teeth 
for  a  few  more  years,  after  which  he  became,  as  we 
shall  see,  by  slow  but  sure  degrees,  Mark  Lemon's 
right-hand  man,  to  whom  the  great  editor  could  turn 
for  anjrthing,  on  any  subject,  at  any  moment.  Those 
were  the  days  of  all-round  men.  Now  things  have 
changed  and  people  specialise  in  the  departments  of 
humour  as  they  do  in  all  other  departments  of  work. 

But  this  is  anticipating,  and  it  must  not  be  supposed 
that  the  Man  in  the  Moon  confined  his  attentions 
to  his  powerful  and  victorious  rival.  A  stroll  through 
his  pages  will  show  us,  amongst  other  things,  how 
history  repeats  itself. 

Take,  for  example,  the  article  headed  "  Stratford-on- 
Avon  "  in  the  tenth  number,  which  should  be  of  special 
interest  to  Miss  Corelli  and  Mr.  Sidney  Lee,  for  there 
we  have  : — 

''  Woodcuts  of  '  Shakespeare's  house  as  it  is  at 
present,'  '  Shakespeare's  house  as  it  appeared  when  his 
father  first  took  it,'  '  Ditto  as  it  would  have  appeared 
had  he  lived  till  now,'  and  '  Ditto  as  it  may  appear, 
hereafter,  when  restored  by  the  Camden  Society;'  " 

together  with  much  good  fooling  and  good  sense 
combined. 

47 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

Again  we  might  recommend  to  the  present  Keeper 
of  the  Turner  drawings  in  Trafalgar  Square  *'  A  Voice 
from  the  Vernon  Gallery/'  beginning  with  the  lines  : — 

**  Oh  say,  what  is  that  thing  called  light, 

Which  I  must  ne'er  enjoy, 

*  *  ♦  * 

"  Why  should  this  den  of  dreary  night 
My  every  charm  destroy  ?  " 

commenting  upon  the  following  paragraph  from  the 
Morning  Chronicle  of  the  period  : — 

**  On  entering  the  sombre  hall,  a  placard  points  out 
a  dark  staircase  which  leads  to  the  dull  abyss,  to  which 
the  British  School  of  the  National  Gallery  has  been 
consigned.  To  see  the  pictures  was  in  most  cases  a 
matter  of  impossibility.  It  would  be  impossible  for 
the  most  ingenious  Mar-all  to  contrive  a  place  less 
adapted  for  the  exhibition  of  works  of  art,  than  this 
miserable  hole  of  Trafalgar  Square.*' 

But  we  must  not  linger  over  the  general  aspect  of 
these  fascinating  little  volumes,  which  may  still  be 
picked  up  by  the  curious  in  second-hand  bookshops — 
at  a  price.  We  must  confine  ourselves  to  Shirley 
Brooks's  part  in  them. 

Here  is  an  example  of  his  purely  humorous  work  in 
these  pages,  an  example  the  more  interesting  seeing 
that  it  was  soon  after  somehow  *'  lifted  "  into  the  pages 
of  Punch  itself ! 

•^WHAT  ARE  THE  WILD  WAVES  SAYING?" 
(A  Sea-shore  Lyric.) 
"  *  What  are  the  wild  waves  saying  ?  ' 
Said  a  maid  in  a  round  straw  hat, 
On  the  sands  of  Margate  playing : 

*  Papa,  can  you  tell  me  that  ?  ' 

48 


AS  VERSIFIER 

Her  sire  in  grim  displeasure, 

No  sort  of  an  answer  made, 
Till  she  fetched  him  a  slight  refresher 

With  the  fiat  of  her  wooden  spade. 

Then,  with  a  look  askance,  her 

Enquiry  thus  he  met : 
'  You  must  mind  and  keep  my  answer 

From  your  mother's  ear,  my  pet. 
I  know  what  the  waves  are  saying, 

But  if  she  were  to  know,  my  lamb, 
To  us  both  she'd  soon  be  weighing 

Toko  in  Heu  of  yam.* 

The  child,  with  a  face  of  wonder. 

Drew  close  to  her  father's  knee. 
While,  with  brow  as  black  as  thunder 

This  speech  imparted  he  : 
'  Like  the  arrow  shot  at  a  target 

Comes  this  message  through  the  foam — 
*  You're  an  ass  for  coming  to  Margate, 

And  you'd  better  have  stayed  at  home.'  '* 

When  his  friend  Sala  wrote  that   '*  Shirley  Brooks 

was   a  born   poet/'   he,   of  course,   wrote   nonsense. 

That  he  was  an  ingenious  rhymester  who  had  the 

knack  of  making  wit  and  wisdom 

..."  Shine 
Through  the  harsh  cadence  of  a  rugged  line," 

is  the  best  that  can  be  claimed  for  him.  We  may  even 
admit  with  another  of  his  friends,  Edmund  Yates, 
that  his  verses  were  better  than  nine-tenths  of  what 
passed  for  poetry  in  his  day,  but  that  is  after  all  but 
faint  praise.  Apart  from  everything  else,  surely  no 
one  who  was  a  *'  born  poet "  could  have  been 
guilty  of  some  of  the  enormities  in  parody  which  he 

49 

5— (2297) 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

perpetrated.     Take,  for   example,    CampbelFs   poem, 
"  The  Last  Man,''  which  runs  : — 

**  All  earthly  shape  shall  melt  in  gloom, 
The  sun  himself  must  die, 
Before  this  mortal  shall  assume 
His  immortality/'  etc.,  etc. 

parodied  by  Shirley  into  : — 

"  Five  bottles  must  at  least  go  round, 
The  sixth  be  nearly  dry. 
Before  this  mortal  shall  assume 
His  inebriety,"  etc.,  etc. 

That  is  funny,  no  doubt,  but  a  thing  to  be  repented 
of  in  sackcloth  and  ashes.  No  man  with  the  true 
poetic  instinct  could  have  so  far  demeaned  himself 
without  intentional  wickedness.  And  Shirley,  often 
thoughtless  and  carried  away  by  uproarious  spirits, 
was  not  wicked.  Indeed,  I  believe  the  conventional 
statement,  that  he  never  published  a  line  which  he 
knew  to  be  indecent  or  irreligious,  to  be  strictly  in 
accordance  with  fact. 

True,  his  contemporary  reputation  as  a  *'  poet  " 
was  considerable,  so  much  so  indeed  that,  in  one 
notable  instance  at  least,  he  got  credit  for  a  production 
which  was  more  like  poetry  than  anything  he  ever 
wrote  himself.  But  one  swallow  does  not  make  a 
summer,  more  especially  if  that  swallow  happens  to 
be  a  sparrow.  Around  that  particular  production 
something  of  the  dimensions  of  a  controversy  has  raged. 
Fortunately  I  am  able  to  settle  the  matter  conclusively. 
But  of  that  in  its  place.  On  the  other  hand,  Thackeray, 
on  two  occasions  at  least,  had  fathered  upon  him  sets 

50 


AS  VERSIFIER 

of  verses  by  Shirley  Brooks,  of  which  I  do  not  fancy 
he  would  have  much  cared  to  claim  the  parentage. 
The  first  was  '*  The  Elegy  to  a  Porpoise ! "  wrongly 
ascribed  to  Thackeray  in  the  ''Life  of  Frank 
Buckland/'  The  second  was  a  parody  on  '^  Locksley 
Hall/'  beginning  : — 

"  Johnson,  take  another  tumbler  ;   Johnson,  light  a  fresh  cigar." 

When  this  was  so  attributed,  Shirley  was  quick  to  put 
in  his  claim,  not  I  fancy  so  much  to  clear  Thackeray 
of  an  unfounded  charge,  as  to  put  to  his  own  credit 
what  there  was  nothing  much  to  be  proud  about. 

And  this  was  a  characteristic  of  Shirley's,  not 
perhaps  an  uncommon  one  to  be  found  in  able  men. 
He  was  far  prouder  of  the  inconsiderable  things  that 
he  did  than  of  the  considerable.  He  would  give  a 
shilHng  to  a  crossing-sweeper  and  blaze  it  abroad.  He 
would  put  a  boy  to  school  whom  he  had  never  seen 
and  who  had  no  conceivable  claim  upon  him  and  keep 
him  there  for  years,  and  would  say  nothing  about  it. 

As  time  went  on,  the  habit — the  fatal  facility — 
grew  upon  Shirley  of  thinking  in  rhyme.  Ideas 
presented  themselves  to  him  ready-clothed  in  metrical 
garments  until  it  became  almost  as  easy  for  him  to 
write  in  verse  as  in  prose.  To  write  to  a  friend  a 
rhyming  letter  containing  an  excruciatingly  bad  rhyme 
gave  him  the  liveliest  satisfaction,  far  more,  I  think, 
than  the  laborious  discovery  of  one  with  irreproachable 
affinity. 

Here  is  a  good  example  of  the  sort  of  thing  he  loved 
to  dash  off,  the  first  of  a  delightful  series  of  letters  put 

51 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

at  my  disposal  by  the  generous  kindness  of  Lieut.-Col. 
Gaskell : — 

S.  B.  TO  Percival  Leigh. 

"  Garrick  Club,  Sunday. 

''  My  dear  Leigh, 

"  Rub  a  dub  dub, 
Three  men  in  this  club  ; 
One  lives  in  Long  Acre, 
One  married  Miss  Baker,  (a  fact), 
The  third  has  a  face  Hke  a 
Roasted  potater — 
that's  me. 

'*  Fm  up  for  a  few  days,  and  hope  to  meet  you  at 
dinner  on  Wednesday. 

"  Ever  yours, 

It  would,  of  course,  be  absurd  to  judge  Shirley 
Brooks's  verse  by  rules  applying  to  the  higher  forms 
of  literary  art.  They  were  but  a  sublimated  form  of 
journalism,  and  the  fact  that,  during  his  connection 
of  twenty  years  with  Punchy  he  published  over  six 
hundred  sets  of  verses  in  that  journal  alone,  is  enough 
to  excuse  them  from  any  very  searching  criticism. 
As  his  son  Reginald,  in  the  Introduction  to  the  post- 
humously published  **  Wit  and  Humour,"  justly  said: 
*'  There  was  no  time  for  choosing  of  epithets,  for  weigh- 
ing of  phrases,  for  polishing  of  lines,  there  was  no  time 
to  wait  for  favourable  seasons  and  conditions  ;  they 
had  to  be  written  from  week  to  week  in  whatever 
bodily  pain  or  mental  grief  their  author  might  chance 
to  be.  Many  of  the  epigrams  .  .  .  which  seem  the  most 
highly  polished,  were  written  off  impromptu  ;  and 
even  of  the  longer  poems — ^to  give  an  example  of  the 

52 


LOG-ROLLING 

rapidity  with  which  they  were  produced — ''  The  Rime 
of  the  Ancient  Alderman  '*  (fifty  stanzas  of  four  Hnes, 
together  with  marginal  notes  to  each  verse)  "  was 
composed  in  an  hour."  That  is  the  way  journalism 
has  to  be  done,  and  that  is  the  way  Shirley  did  it, 
his  proud  boast  being,  during  his  long  connection  with 
the  Press,  that  he  had  never  kept  the  printer  waiting 
for  his  copy. 

Of  actual  mention  of  Shirley  Brooks's  name  in  the 
pages  of  the  Man  in  the  Moon,  whose  influence  with 
the  public  depended  largely  on  the  anonymity  of  its 
contributors,  we  do  not  of  course  expect  to  find  much, 
and  yet  these  young  men  were  not  above  a  little 
log-rolling  when  they  had  the  chance.  Indeed,  as  early 
as  Vol.  I,  page  183,  we  find  a  review  of  one  of  Shirley's 
plays,  beginning  with  a  dehghtful  affectation  of 
superiority  : — 

''  Since  we  last  went  to  press,  a  burletta  called 
*  The  Wigwam,'  written  by  one  of  our  collaborateurs, 
has  been  produced  at  the  Lyceum  Theatre  with  much 
success.  This  result  is  mere  matter  of  course,  because 
any  writer  who  is  qualified  to  contribute  to  these  pages 
is,  we  should  humbly  imagine,  perfectly  competent  to 
any  other  task  which  could  possibly  be  required  of  him. 
It  is,  therefore,  sufficient  to  say  that  '  The  Wigwam  ' 
is  received  with  nightly  applause,  and  that  it  points  a 
great  number  of  morals  of  various  descriptions  ;  " 

and  concluding, ''  Mr.  Shirley  Brooks  is  the  writer  of  the 
piece,  which  has  been  very  carefully  and  effectually 
got  up  and  will  have  a  good  run."  And  certainly  he 
was  fortunate  in  his  cast,  which  included  Frank 
Matthews,  the  Keeleys,  Oxberry,  and  Miss  Arden. 

53 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

Again  I  find  the  following  passage  of  calculated 
ndiveti  rather  alluring  : — 

''  The  Lyceum  fills  prosperously.  We  disdain  to 
puff  anything,  or  anybody,  more  especially  anything 
achieved  by  anybody  who  happens  to  be  our  friend 
and  collaborateur.  It  is  for  that  reason,  therefore, 
that  we  refrain  from  saying  that  the  little  drawing-room 
comedy,  by  Shirley  Brooks,  produced  since  our  last 
number,  and  called  '  Anything  for  a  Change,'  is  one 
of  the  neatest  and  most  sparkling  little  gems  which 
ever  ghttered  in  the  perfect  setting  of  a  Vestris  *  Get 
Up/  " 

Once  indeed  the  staff  of  the  little  paper  throws  aside 
its  anonymity  and  appears  before  the  curtain. 
'^Shirley,''  "Angus,'*  and  "Albert''  discuss  the 
contemporary  drama  in  open  court,  just  as  on  occasion 
certain  eminent  dramatic  critics  in  these  days  con- 
descend to  do,  for  the  good  of  the  drama,  of  course, 
and  not  to  advertise  themselves.  A  few  lines  of 
quotation  must  suffice  : — 

"  Angus.  ' ''  The  Creole  "  is  by  far  the  best  drama 
Shirley  has  written.  The  idea  is  new,  the  plot  is  very 
carefully  and  ingeniously  constructed,  the  situations 
are  extremely  effective  and  the  dialogue  is  thoroughly 
vigorous.' 

"  Albert.     '  Anything  to  add  to  that,  Shirley  ?  ' 
"  Shirley.      '  Nothing  ;    Angus's  praise  is  extrava- 
gantly high,  and  perfectly  just'  " 

Of  course,  the  opportunity  is  not  lost  of  having  a  sly 
dig  at  their  great  rival.  Shirley  bets  a  copy  of  the 
Man  in  the  Moon  against  a  copy  of  Punch  that  a 
certain  manager  does  not  give  a  certain  actress  £100 

54 


BALLOONING 

a  night.  To  which  Angus  drily  answers  :  ''  You  will 
get  no  takers,  even  at  such  odds'' 

One  other  matter  and  we  must  close  this  account  of 
Shirley's  connection  with  Punch's  antagonist. 

In  Laman  Blanchard's  '*  Life  "  there  is  a  reference, 
under  date  June  7th,  1847,  to  *'  the  veteran  aeronaut, 
Shirley  Brooks."  But  surely  here  we  find  Homer 
nodding.  Shirley  was  certainly  not  yet  a  veteran,  for 
he  was  but  thirty-two.  And  as  certainly  he  was  no 
aeronaut,  for  only  once  did  he  risk  his  bones  in  a 
balloon.  This  is  pretty  clear  from  a  note  made  by 
Mr.  Silver  after  one  of  the  Punch  dinners  many  years 
later  : — 

*'  '  I  once  went  up  in  a  balloon,'  Shirley  told  us, 
*  and  I  wasn't  a  bit  funky,  but  I  frankly  didn't  like  it. 
London  seemed  to  slip  away,  and  the  sensation  was 
unpleasant  somehow,  though  I  felt  no  motion.  But 
the  bumping  on  the  ground  on  coming  down  was 
beastly.  I  believe  that  some  of  my  lower  bones  would 
have  certainly  been  broken  had  not  my  rotundity 
acted  as  a  buffer.'  " 

The  ascent  was  made  from  Cremome  in  Green's 
balloon.  The  Nassau.  With  him  were  Albert  Smith 
and  half-a-dozen  other  newspaper  men,  and  the  event 
made  good  copy  for  the  next  number  of  the  Man  in 
the  Moon.  The  staff  was  anxious  to  pay  a  visit  to 
the  real  Man  in  the  Moon^  they  wished  to  present  him 
with  a  copy  of  their  pubHcation  in  person,  they  wished 
to  experience  a  new  sensation,  and  (incorrigible 
punsters  as  they  were)  were  ready  for  a  lark,  and 
thought  the  skies  the  best  place  to  find  one  ! 

55 


CHAPTER  III 


Morning    Chronicle — "  Russians    of    the    South  " — ^As    Theatrical 
Critic — "  A  Story  with  a  Vengeance  " — ^Angus  Reach. 

UCH  as  Shirley  Brooks  had 
reason  to  congratulate 
himself  on  his  literary 
successes,  so  far  he  was 
but  a  free-lance  in  the 
army  of  writers.  He  was 
ready  for  a  job  here, 
there,  and  everywhere, 
but  he  was  uncertain  of 
his  true  metier.  Like  the 
singer  who  knows  he  has 
a  powerful  organ,  but  does  not  know  what  *'  register  .|r 
he  should  adopt,  like  the  actor  who  is  trying  his  hand 
now  at  tragedy,  now  at  comedy,  he  must  give  each 
its  chance,  and  let  time  prove  in  what  he  is  most 
excellent.  Naturally,  he  tried  his  luck  with  the  drama, 
and  with  no  little  success. 

As  it  was  with  his  verse-writing  so  it  was  with  his 
work  done  for  the  stage.  He  enjoyed  the  facility  with 
which  he  could  convert  the  teeming  fancies  of  his  brain 
into  current  coin  of  the  realm.  His  imagination  and 
his  pen  were  but  the  implements  with  which  he  was 
to  make  a  name,  carve  out  a  career  in  the  world,  do 
his  work — and  receive  his  wages  for  doing  it.     They 

56 


"THE  CREOLE" 

were  no  more  than  that  and  he  would  have  been  the 
first  to  repudiate  the  name  of  "  poet/*  the  first  to 
laugh  at  anyone  who  called  him  even  a  second  Planche. 

His  play-writing,  like  his  verse-writing,  was  pot- 
boiling,  done  with  might  and  main  and  with  the  breezy 
enjoyment  of  the  man  whose  heart  was  in  his  work. 
It  was  just  a  part  of  his  darrach,  pretending  to  no  great 
literary  excellence.     It  was  clever,  but  it  was  not  art. 

''  The  Creole,"  the  publication  of  which  by  Ledger 
resulted  in  his  long  connection  with  the  Era,  is  the  first 
of  his  plays  of  which  I  find  public  mention.  But  that 
it  had  its  predecessors  is  probable.  Indeed,  as  early 
as  1845,  he  was  admitted  to  membership  of  the 
Dramatic  Authors'  Society,  a  society  which,  then  or 
later,  numbered  amongst  its  members  such  prominent 
Punch  men  as  Mark  Lemon,  Douglas  Jerrold,  Henry 
Mayhew,  Albert  Smith,  Tom  Taylor,  (Sir  Francis) 
Burnand,  and  Gilbert  a  Beckett.* 

*'  The  Creole,  or  Love's  Fetters  ;  an  original  drama 
in  three  acts,"  as  its  full  title  ran,  was  produced  at  the 
Lyceum  on  April  8th,  1847,  under  the  management 
of  the  Keeleys.  The  hero,  Antony  LatouYy  was  finely 
played  by  Emery,  **  a  most  excellent  actor,  never 
sufficiently  appreciated ;"  f  the  heroine,  Virginie 
D  amir  on  y  by  Mary  Keeley  (Mrs.  Albert  Smith) ;  and 
the  fiery,  reckless,  kind-hearted  Vivandiere  by  Mrs. 
Keeley  herself.  '*  Never,"  wrote  Douglas  Jerrold  in 
his  Weekly  Newspaper ,  '*  never  did  a  piece  of  the  kind 

*  Vide  "  The  k  Becketts  of  Punch  "  by  Mr.  Arthur  k  Beckett, 
t  Vide  Yates's  "  Recollections." 

57 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

play  more  completely  on  the  first  night.  The  three 
acts  went,  not  only  swiftly,  but,  with  all  their  variety 
of  involution,  smoothly  as  a  ballet,*'  and  this  not- 
withstanding that  only  six  rehearsals  had  been  called. 
The  fact  was  that  Mrs.  Keeley  had  given  the  young 
dramatist  but  scant  time  for  his  task.  On  the  morning 
of  Tuesday,  March  the  16th,  one  scene  only  had  been 
written,  and  on  the  evening  of  the  following  Saturday, 
the  completed  work,  an  entirely  original  drama,  or 
rather  melodrama,  was  in  the  hands  of  the  manage- 
ment. The  piece  proved,  in  the  words  of  the  Athenceum 
of  the  day,  *'  a  moderate  success."  Nevertheless, 
henceforth  Shirley,  as  a  dramatist,  was  in  constant 
request.  *'  The  Creole  "  has  often  been  revived,  and 
certainly  was  acted  as  late  as  June,  1876,  at  the 
St.  James's  Theatre  with  Mrs.  John  Wood  as  the 
Vivandiere.  It  is  to  be  found  with  several*  others  of 
Shirley's  productions  in  Lacy's  **  Acting  Edition  of 
Plays "  and  Dick's  ''  Standard  Plays."  Some  day, 
prophesied  Blanchard  Jerrold  in  the  Gentleman's 
Magazine^  a  manager  wiU  come  along  who  will  read 
them  and  will  find  that  there  is  very  seldom  any 
dramatic  writing  produced  nowadays  of  such  excellent 
quality,  and  will  give  them  another  chance.  That, 
I  think,  is  too  sanguine  a  hope,  too  high  an  estimate. 
Anyhow,  they  were  good  enough  in  those  days  for 
the  Keeleys,  Charles  Mathews,  and  Charles  Kean, 
and  were  important  as  bringing  him  into  friendly 
relationship  with  many  remarkable  people  of  the 
period. 

Others  of  his  plays  produced  by  the  Keeleys  at  the 

58 


PLAY-WRITING 

Lyceum  were  ''  Our  New  Governess/'  "  Honours  and 
Tricks/*  and  "  The  Wigwam/' 

On  June  7th,  1848,  *' Anything  for  a  Change'* 
made  its  bow,  with  Charles  Mathews  in  the  part  of 
Swoppington,  and  a  Miss  "  Polly "  Marshall,  who, 
according  to  Yates,  acted  '*  Eliza ^  a  servant,"  inimit- 
ably. It  was  a  one-act  petite  comedie,  and  was 
important  as  introducing  Shirley  to  Madame  Vestris, 
into  whose  and  Mathews's  hands  the  Lyceum 
management  had  now  passed. 

This  was  followed  at  the  same  theatre  by  the  farce 
*'  Shave  you  Directly,"  and,  at  the  Otympic,  by  "  The 
Magician,"  both  produced  for  the  first  time  in  1849, 
and  both  with  considerable  success. 

Then  came  in  1850  '*  The  Daughter  of  the  Stars," 
at  the  New  Strand  Theatre,  with  Miriam,  the  gipsy 
girl,  '*  most  strikingly  personated  by  Mrs.  Stirling," 
and  WiUiam  Farren  as  the  Hon.  Antony  Hawkstone. 
According  to  the  AthencBunij  which  had  up  till  now 
rather  decried  the  author,  it  was  a  drama  "  of  remark- 
able merit,  approaching  in  wit  to  the  brilliancy  of 
Congreve."  At  the  same  time  the  Keeleys  were 
producing  his  new  one-act  farce,  **  The  Guardian 
Angel,"  at  the  Hay  market. 

Then  came  in  1851,  the  year  of  the  Great  Exhibition, 
"  The  Exposition  "  in  verse,  produced  at  the  Strand 
on  April  28th,  and  described  as  ''a  Scandinavian 
Sketch,  containing  as  much  irrelevant  matter  as 
possible  in  one  act "  ;  and  then  ''  The  Lowther 
Arcade,"  about  which  I  learn  nothing  save  that  it 
was  a  *'  lively  farce." 

59 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

These  were  not  the  last  of  his  dramatic  efforts,  as 
we  shall  see  as  we  proceed,  but  we  must  now  go 
back  a  year  or  two  and  pick  up  the  threads  of  his 
newspaper  work. 

Shirley  had  been  but  a  year  on  the  staff  of  the  Man 
in  the  Moon,  when  another  editor,  this  time  one  of  the 
greatest  editors  that  England  has  ever  produced,  found 
him  out. 

In  1865  he  wrote  in  his  diary  : — 

*'  We  heard  this  morning  that  Cobden  died  yesterday. 
He  is  a  loss.  My  recollection  of  him  is  connected 
with  my  best  step  in  life,  for  Cook,  to  see  whether  I  was 
fit  for  the  office  of  summary-writer,  sent  me  to  Ayles- 
bury to  report  Cobden  and  a  meeting,  which  I  did 
successfully,  and  gained  the  place  which  gained  me 
much  beside.'* 

His  new  employer  was  John  Douglas  Cook,  the  editor 
of  the  short-lived  but  brilliant  Morning  Chronicle, 
and  afterwards  of  the  Saturday  Review,  Elsewhere 
I  have  written  of  this  remarkable  man,  whose  irascible 
temper,  flamboyant  language,  and  commanding 
presence  made  him  the  terror  of  his  subordinates. 
Possessing  no  literary  ability,  he  proved  himself  a 
heaven-born  editor,  discovering  apparently  by  intuition 
the  men  or  women  who  could  best  serve  his  purposes, 
and  casting  them  aside  when  their  work  was  done 
with  as  little  compunction  as  though  they  were  worn- 
out  pen  nibs.  In  1848  the  Chronicle  had  been  bought 
by  the  Peehte  party,  and  Cook  installed  in  the  editorial 
chair.  Shirley  was  looking  about  for  work,  and  Cook 
was   scouring    the    town   for  likely  lieutenants,   and 

60 


"MORNING  CHRONICLE" 

when  two  persons  are  looking  the  one  for  the  other 
they  generally  meet. 

In  the  first  years  of  his  new  employment  Shirley 
was  just  the  ordinary  newspaper  hack,  doing  anything 
and  going  anywhere  he  was  told.  Then  came  the 
moment  when  the  important  office  of  summary-writer 
in  the  House  of  Commons  fell  vacant,  and  he  was 
chosen  as  fittest  for  the  post.  And  this  notwithstand- 
ing the  fact  that  at  the  time  of  his  appointment  he  had 
never  heard  a  debate  in  his  life.  '*  But/'  says  Yates, 
*'  he  soon  learnt  his  work  and  continued  at  it  for  five 
sessions,  during  which  time  it  was  impossible  for  such 
a  man,  who  really  minded  and  cared  for  his  business, 
not  to  pick  up  a  great  quantity  of  miscellaneous  as  well 
as  political  knowledge,  of  all  of  which  he  afterwards 
availed  himself.'' 

Curiously  enough,  he  never  learnt  to  write  in  short- 
hand, although  he  regretted  this  disability  to  his  dying 
day.  At  that  time  reporting  in  the  House  of  Commons 
was  a  very  different  thing  from  what  it  is  now.  Then 
the  staff,  confined  to  a  few  London  papermen,  had  to 
work  as  best  they  could  from  the  back  seat  of  the 
Strangers'  Gallery.  There  were  no  conveniences  for 
writing  out  ''  copy  "  in  the  House,  nor  for  comparing 
doubtful  passages  with  colleagues  who  had  sharper 
ears.  For  these  purposes  they  were  driven  to  seek 
the  shelter  of  a  little  tavern,  which  then  stood  in 
Palace  Yard,  Here  an  upstairs  room  was  kept  sacred 
to  their  use,  and  here  such  men  as  Charles  Dickens, 
William  Howard  Russell,  the  Pauls,  father  and  son, 
and  a  host  of  lesser  lights  were  wont  to  foregather. 

61 


SHIRLEY   BROOKS 

It  was  in  these  surroundings,  and  under  difficulties 
which  would  not  be  tolerated  in  these  more  luxurious 
days,  that  Shirley  Brooks  prepared  himself  unwittingly 
for  the  Uvely  pictures  of  Parliamentary  procedure 
which  are  now  enshrined  in  '*  Punch's  Essence  of 
Parliament,'*  work  continued  by  him  for  twenty  years 
''  with  cleverness,  refinement,  truth  and  humour 
invaluable  to  the  historian  and  delightful  to  the 
general  reader." 

Speaking  of  these  early  Parliamentary  experiences  to 
Mr.  Silver,  he  one  day  said  : — 

"  No,  I  don't  approve  of  stag-hunting,  but  I  should 
like  to  see  some  Bore-hunting.  O,  how  the  Bores 
have  plagued  me  when  I  was  a  reporter !  They 
always  quoted  poetry,  and  I  always  had  to  mend  their 
misquotations.  No,  they  never  got  so  far  as  Greek — 
perhaps  they  did  in  Pitt's  time.  But  Parliament  is 
decadent — ^like  prize-fighting  and  other  fine  old  British 
institutions.  I  fancy  country  M.P.'s  like  to  hear  a  bit 
of  Latin.  It  reminds  them  of  their  youth.  The  House 
dislikes  a  Bore,  and  doesn't  care  for  high-f alutin' .  But 
when  a  man's  worth  hearing,  it  will  always  listen  to  him. 
I  recollect  when  Brotherton*  first  rose  to  speak  ;  it  was 
upon  some  Infant  Labour  question,  and  the  House  was 
inattentive.  But  he  began  by  saying  simply,  '  I  was 
a  factory  boy  myself  and  I  know  something  of  the 
matter.'  Then  suddenly  there  fell  a  dead  silence  on 
the  benches  ;  and  whenever  he  spoke  afterwards  he 
never  wanted  listeners." 

But  Shirley's  work  on  the  Morning  Chronicle  was 
not  confined  to  home  affairs.     In  1850  and  1851  he  and 

♦  Joseph  Brotherton,  M.P.  for  Salford. 

62 


AS  DRAMATIC  CRITIC 

his  friend  Reach  were  sent  abroad  to  enquire  into  the 
conditions  of  the  agricultural  classes.     Angus  went  to 
France  and  Shirley  through  South  Russia,  Asia  Minor, 
and  Egypt.     The  results  of  these  enquiries  appeared   '' 
in  the  paper  in  the  form  of  letters  to  the  editor.     So 
great  was  the  attention  that  they  attracted  that  their 
publication  in  book  form  was  forthwith  demanded. 
Angus  Reach's  investigations  were  embodied  in  that 
dehghtful  book,  ''  Claret  and  Ohves,"  and  Shirley's  in 
the  sixth  volume  of  Longman's   Travellers'  Library, 
under  the  title  of  *'  The  Russians  in  the  South  "  (1854).  | 
It  at  once  attracted  the  attention  of  the  Quarterly 
Review^  which  wrote  '*  he  is  one  of  the  closest  observers 
and  one  of  the  liveliest  writers  of  the  day."     The  book 
may  be  read    even  now    with  pleasure    and  profit, 
despite  its  uninteresting  title  and  appearance. 

His  foreign  adventure  over,  Shirley  returned  after 
six  months  to  London,  and  once  again  showed  that 
he  could  turn  his  attention  to,  and  excel  in,  a  very 
different  class  of  newspaper  work. 

In  those  days  the  theatrical  critics  wielded  enormous 
power,  and  Shirley  for  the  Chronicle^  John  Oxenford  for 
the  Times ^  and  David  Hastings  for  the  Herald^  formed, 
with  George  Henry  Lewes,  a  tribunal  whose  verdict 
the  managers  awaited  with  bated  breath.  And  so 
good  a  judge  as  Charles  Dickens  spoke  of  Shirley  in 
this  connection  as  *'  one  of  the  two  ablest  and 
keenest  .  .  .  among  the  great  army  of  critical  writers." 
A  practical  dramatist  himself,  he  was  well  equipped 
for  this  responsible  oiBce,  both  intellectually  and 
morally,  and  he  was  far  removed  from  that  class  of 

63 


SHIRLEY   BROOKS 

critics  who  damn  a  play  by  reason  of  prejudice  against 
its  author. 

**  Who  do  you  say  wrote  this  play  ?  '*  asked  one  of 
these,  when  ''  Title  Deeds  '*  was  under  discussion. 
'*  Richard  Brinsley  Peake/'  answered  another. 
''  What  ?  "  said  the  first,  ''  Dicky  Peake  !  Damned 
nonsense  !  He  couldn't  write  a  farce.  /  knew  his 
father,'* 

And  Shirley,  whilst  roaring  with  laughter  at  the  non 
sequitur,  would  heartily  condemn  the  stupidity  that  it 
connoted. 

But,  important  to  himself  and  valuable  to  the  pubUc 
as  was  Shirley's  work  on  the  Chronicle ,  there  was 
something  else  intimately  connected  with  it  which, 
from  the  biographer's  point  of  view,  is  of  far  greater 
moment.  For,  if  biography  is  to  be  of  real  value,  it 
must  show  not  so  much  what  things  a  man  did  as  what 
the  man  who  did  these  things  was  like.  And  here  we 
are  enabled  to  catch  something  of  Shirley's  character — 
what  sort  of  heart  there  was  in  him. 

To  use  a  hackneyed  but  expressive  term,  he  had  a 

genius  for  friendship,  and  this  was  never  more  markedly 

shown  than  in  the  tender  and  practical  help  which  he 

\  extended  to  Angus  Bethune  Reach,  his  friend  and 

fellow-worker. 

Working  together,  and  showing  their  mettle  in  the 
pages  of  the  Man  in  the  Moon,  fighting  side  by  side  in 
the  ranks  of  the  Morning  Chronicle,  to  the  editor  of 
which  Angus  had  also  been  his  introducer,  together 
they  laid  siege  to  Punch,  and  together  they  eventually, 
as  Mr.  Spielmann  says,  carried  the  position  by  assault. 

64 


ANGUS   REACH 

They  were  brothers-in-arms  and,  as  such,  must  succour 
one  the  other  when  knocked  out  of  time.  And  Shirley 
was  good  at  helping  lame  dogs  over  stiles. 

In  1852  Reach  and  he,  in  addition  to  their  other 
work,  collaborated  in  a  little  volume  entitled  **  A 
Story  with  a  Vengeance,"  now  only  valuable  to  the 
collector  as  containing  wood-engravings  after  Charles 
Keene.  This  was  the  first  and,  as  it  proved,  the  last 
of  their  joint- ventures,  for  soon  after  Reach  showed 
signs  of  brain  failure. 

Then  followed  for  Shirley's  friend  months  of  irregular 
and  intermittent  work — dreadful  months  during  which 
hope  alternated  with  despair,  now  brightening,  now 
lowering,  now  brightening  again,  until  at  last  the  poor 
brain  became  incapable  of  further  effort.  At  first  things 
were  not  bad  financially,  for  the  proprietors  of  the 
Chronicle ^  mindful  of  Reach's  faithful  and  brilliant 
services,  continued  his  salary.  Soon,  however,  this 
source  of  income  could  not  be  relied  upon,  for  the  paper 
was  losing  ground,  and,  after  all,  as  Mr.  William 
Simpson  says  in  his  excellent  little  monograph,* 
*'  it  was  not  in  the  bond  to  maintain  even  a  good 
servant  beyond  a  reasonable  time."  Then  it  was  that 
Shirley  showed  the  stuff  he  was  made  of.  He  volun- 
teered to  do  the  double  work  on  condition  that  the 
sick  man's  salary  was  continued.  This  was  agreed  to, 
and  the  "  noble  arrangement  lasted  for  about  a  year, 
and  would  have  lasted  longer  had  not  death  come." 

Nor  was  this  the  limit  of  his  friendship.     For  years 

*  "  Two  Famous  Correspondents  :  the  Reach's,  father  and  son," 
Inverness,  1905. 

65 

6— (2297) 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

Reach  had  contributed  a  '*  London  Letter  "  to  the 
Inverness  Courier.  This,  too,  Shirley  took  upon  his 
shoulders,  so  successfully  adopting  his  friend's  style, 
and  so  carefully  keeping  the  secret  of  Reach's  illness, 
that  for  many  months  the  readers  of  the  paper  had  not 
the  slightest  suspicion  that  any  change  of  authorship 
had  taken  place.  During  all  this  time  Brooks  refused 
any  reward,  though  still  struggling  for  his  own  main- 
tenance. The  cheques  were  handed  over  untouched 
for  the  benefit  of  the  poor  sufferer  and  his  wife.  By 
degrees,  of  course,  the  truth  about  Reach's  hopeless 
illness  became  public  property.  Then  Shirley's  share 
in  the  matter  could  not  be  hid,  and  then  Reach's  friends 
of  the  Garrick  and  Fielding  Clubs,  Dickens,  Thackeray, 
Ainsworth,  Peter  Cunningham,  Tom  Taylor,  Mark 
Lemon,  John  Oxenford,  John  Forster,  and  a  host  of 
others  combined  to  insure  that  his  days  should  be  ended 
in  comfort  and  independence.  ''  Round  a  worthier 
companion  friends  never  rallied  in  the  hour  of  his 
trouble,"  wrote  Brooks,  and  surely  among  these  noble- 
hearted  men  none  was  more  noble  and  sincere  than 
Shirley  himself. 

After  Reach's  death  in  1856,  Shirley  for  a  short  time 
acted  on  his  own  account  as  correspondent  to  the 
Inverness  Courier ^  relinquishing  this  employment  in 
1857,  and  leaving  behind  him  a  host  of  friends.  First 
amongst  these  was  that  remarkable  man,  Robert 
Carruthers,  who  occupied  the  editorial  chair  for  full 
half-a-century.  Between  him  and  Shirley  hearty 
friendship  and  camaraderie  continued  without  a  break 
until  death  ended  it. 


ANGUS   REACH 

Only  one  letter  do  I  find  referring  to  Reach  amongst 
the  little  of  Shirley's  early  correspondence  that  has 
come  into  my  hands,  but  in  this  we  discover  him 
characteristically  doing  him  a  friendly  turn  : — 
Shirley  Brooks  to  —  Scott. 

"  12  New  Inn,  Saturday,  (1852). 

''  My  dear  Scott, 

*'  .  .  .  This  will  be  a  good  opportunity  for  me 
to  introduce  to  you  our  regular  Fine  Arts  cricket,* 
Mr.  Angus  Reach  (Highland  name,  *  ch  '  as  '  k  *),  who 
is  a  ready  and  picturesque  writer,  a  valued  friend  of 
mine,  and  an  excellent  fellow,  and  by  him,  no  doubt, 
the  notice  in  question,  and  most  others  will  be  done. 
I  interfere  occasionally,  only,  pour  cause,  but  you  will 
find  that  he  will  say  what  I  should  say.  I  shall  tell 
him  to  ask  for  you. 

"  Most  truly  yours, 

"  S.  B. 
"  P.S. — I  am  so  glad  the  Dukef  is  buried.  I  was  near 
calling  yesterday  to  congratulate  you  on  the  fact, 
but  hardly  knew  whether  you  could  share  my  glee. 
You  would  if  you  had  printed  five  columns  about  him. 
That  night  I  did.'* 

*  S.  B.  was  dreadfully  fond  of  inversions  of  this  kind, 
t  The  Duke  of  Wellington. 


67 


CHAPTER  IV 

Appearance — ^As  Conversationalist. 


UCH  has  been  said  in  the 
preceding  chapters  of  the 
influences  which  were  at 
work  fitting  Shirley  for 
the  high  position  he  was 
destined  to  occupy  in 
the  hierarchy  of  EngUsh 
journahsm. 

He  was  taking  true  root, 
and  that,  as  Conrade  says 
to  Don  John  in  ''  Much  Ado  about  Nothing/'  ''  by  the 
fair  weather  he  was  making  for  himself/'  He  was 
*'  framing  the  season  for  his  own  harvest.*'  He  had 
faith  in,  he  was  preparing  for,  his  destiny,  but  what 
that  destiny  was  to  be  he  had  as  yet  no  guess.  I  now 
propose  to  pause  for  a  space  in  the  record  of  work,  and 
at  the  risk  of  slightly  anticipating  events,  to  try  and 
give  some  idea  of  the  characteristics  of  the  worker. 
For  I  hold  that  the  work  by  which  a  man  is  to  be 
judged,  the  work  which  has  been  as  much  a  pleasure 
to  him  as  a  task,  the  work  for  which  he  has  discovered 
a  real  genius,  cannot  properly  be  understood  by  us, 

68 


APPEARANCE 

unless  we  first  gain  some  understanding  of  the  man 
who  did  it. 

One  who  knew  him  well  tells  me  that  he  remembers 
him  as  "  a  clear-skinned,  rosy-cheeked,  fresh-looking 
gentleman-farmer  sort  of  man/'  with  '*  thick  fair  hair, 
bright  blue  eyes,  very  clear,  and  a  ready  smile  with 
a  slight  curl  of  the  upper  lip,  which  gave  a  look  of 
cynicism  when  he  joked  or  laughed.  His  manner  was 
peculiarly  courteous  to  ladies,  and  to  what  to  him  must 
have  been  uninteresting  people,  with  whom  he  had 
little  in  common.  This  was  a  striking  trait,  and  full 
as  his  conversation  was  of  bright  and  polished  satire 
and  witticisms,  there  was  a  breezy,  hearty  surface- 
geniality  about  it,  which  was  very  characteristic." 
**  Even  at  the  last,''  wrote  Edmund  Yates,  '*  when 
his  hair  was  silvery  white  and  his  beard  grizzled,  he 
retained  his  freshness,  which,  combined  with  his 
hearty,  genial  manner,  his  appreciation  of,  and  promp- 
titude to  enter  into,  fun,  made  him  look  considerably 
younger  than  his  real  age.  He  was  hearty  and  hos- 
pitable, fond  of  dining  at  the  dinners  of  rich  City 
companies,  where  he  would  make  excellent  speeches ; 
fond  of  enjoying  the  company  of  a  friend  at  the  Garrick 
Club,  or  at  a  corner  table  in  a  coffee-room  at  one  of  the 
old  hotels  in  Co  vent  Garden."  According  to  Sala,  he 
was  *'  a  very  handsome  man,  prematurely  white  as  to 
hair  and  beard,  with  the  clearest  of  complexions  and 
a  lustrous,  speaking  eye." 

Mrs.  Jopling  Rowe,  who  of  course  can  only  remember 
him  in  his  later  days,  speaks  of  his  broad,  open  forehead, 
his  eyes  gleaming  with  sudden  kindly  humour,  his 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

moustache  and  beard  carelessly  trimmed,  and  his 
general  picturesqueness. 

Mrs.  Panton  writes  to  me  of  his  dark,  full  beard,  and 
silver-grey  hair,  which  fell  in  a  shock  over  his  right  eye, 
and  which  he  used  to  toss  back  when  he  spoke  or 
laughed.  -v 

Blanchard  Jerrold  remembered  "  his  fine  presence 
and  gallant  bearing,  his  lively  talk  that  assumed 
considerable  knowledge  in  his  listeners  ...  his  gra- 
cious and  sympathetic  method  of  approach  (which) 
bespoke  the  man  who  had  enjoyed  .  .  .  the  constant 
companionship  of  cultivated  gentlewomen.  Shirley 
Brooks  could  pay  a  compliment  in  the  old,  respectful 
style,  and  turn  the  corner  of  a  mistake  .  .  .  with  a 
special  grace  that  was  all  his  own." 

On  one  occasion  he  invited  a  gentleman  and  his 
daughter  to  dinner,  but  had  omitted  to  give  the  number 
of  his  house.  This  being  requested,  he  made  an 
elaborate  drawing  of  the  outside  of  his  street  door, 
writing  beneath  it,  ''  This  is  the  side  of  my  door  on 
which  I  am  least  anxious  to  see  you.'* 

'*  Not  demonstrative,'*  continues  Jerrold,  "  nor  in 
any  way  a  gushing  or  sentimental  man.  Brooks  was 
hearty.  But  his  heartiness  had  been  polished ;  and 
he  was  to  the  unceremonious,  bluff  and  fast  folk  of 
the  present  day,  somewhat  ceremonious  and  modish. 
His  manner  always  reminded  me  of  that  of  a  fashionable 
physician.*' 

'*  He  was,'*  says  his  old  friend  Mr.  Frith,  '*  a  bon 
vivant,  but  never  guilty  of  the  excesses  which  sometimes 
disfigure  that  character.  .  .  .     He  was  open-handed 

70 


AS   CONVERSATIONALIST 

to  a  fault.  ...  He  hated  animals,  his  one  bad  trait 
in  my  eyes.  ...  He  always  used  to  work  in  his  shirt 
sleeves  and  ramp  and  rage  at  any  noise." 

Without  being  a  dandy  he  gave  some  thought  to  his 
appearance  and  dress.  Mr.  C.  J.  Tait's  chief  recollec- 
tion of  his  distinguished  relative  is  as  a  youngster 
seated  on  his  knee  '*  wondering  amazingly  at  his  velvet 
waistcoat.'*  And  in  one  of  his  later  diaries  Shirley 
records,  "  Matthews,  *  Torie  *  (Miss  Matthews),  and 
Jessy  called,  and  Mr.  Pepys  exhibited  himself  in  his  new 
velvets,  which,  methought,  did  much  content  them." 

That  is  as  some  of  his  intimates  saw  him,  and  their 
evidence  is  sufficiently  consistent.  From  others  I 
gather  that  he  was  a  brilliant  raconteur,  far  more 
humorous  in  his  conversation  than  in  his  writing. 
This  humorous  role  he  assumed  with  much  seriousness. 
Indeed  so  much  store  did  he  lay  upon  his  reputation  as 
a  talker  that  before  a  dinner-party  he  would  shut 
himself  up  for  an  hour  in  his  study  and  prepare  for  the 
conversational  fray.  And  well  he  was  rewarded,  for 
he  it  was  who  kept  the  table  in  a  roar,  and  with  his 
handsome  face  and  charming  voice  put  everyone  in 
a  good  humour. 

That  there  was  one  at  least  of  his  acquaintances 
who  was  at  times  conscious  of  a  lack  of  spontaneity 
in  his  talk  is  clear  from  the  following  extract  from  an 
unpubHshed  manuscript  of  *'  Reminiscences,"  by  Henry 
Sutherland  Edwards,  kindly  lent  to  me  by  Mr.  George 
Thomas  : — 

''  Shirley  Brooks,"  he  writes,  ''  was  a  brilliant, 
clever,    and    very    agreeable    man.      But    both    his 

71 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

conversation  and  his  writing  would  have  been  more  in- 
teresting had  he  taken  less  pains  to  render  them  witty. 
He  had  plenty  of  genuine  wit.  But  when  he  could 
think  of  nothing  sparkling  or  facetious  he  had  recourse 
to  epigrammatic  forms  and  antithetical  moulds.  There 
seemed  to  be  some  point  in  what  he  said,  but  it  was 
nothing  more  than  one  part  of  a  sentence  balanced 
against  another.  There  is  a  sad  example  of  this  on  a 
tombstone  in  Norwood  Cemetery,  where  Shirley 
Brooks's  friend,  Angus  Reach,  lies  buried.  The  epitaph 
which  could  only  have  been  from  one  hand,  runs  as 
follows  : 

"  Distinguished  in  Periodical  Literature, 
Beloved  in  Private  Life," 

two  words  beginning  with  a  P  and  an  L  played  off 
against  two  other  words  beginning  with  a  P  and  an  L. 
And  to  accomplish  this  alliterative  feat  the  writer 
lowered  the  literary  importance  of  the  man  he  wished 
to  honour.** 

In  other  words,  Shirley  had  a  reputation  as  a  talker 
and  a  writer  to  keep  up,  and  had  to  eke  out  his  wit 
when  it  ran  thin  with  the  tricks  and  antics  known  to 
all  who  have  found  themselves  in  a  like  position. 

Shirley  took  a  lively  interest  in  the  small  and  great 
doings  of  the  great  and  small  people  about  him,  of 
whom  the  world  was  talking.  In  the  Punch  days, 
frequenting  the  Bedford  Hotel,  which  was  kept  by 
Mark  Lemon's  sister-in-law,  Mrs.  Warner,  he  was, 
I  with  Lemon,  Thackeray,  and  other  Punch  men,  one 
of  the  few  privileged  persons  who  had  the  entree  to  the 
Shakespeare  Room,  Mrs.  Warner's  private  parlour. 
And  it  must  be  confessed,  these  great  and  important 
personages  were  not  above  talking  a  great  deal  of 

72 


^     As  GOSSIP 

scandal  and  showing  a  great  deal  of  curiosity  about 
their  neighbours*  affairs,  which  could  all  be  turned  into 
conversational  coin,  with  proper  reservations,  outside. 

A  good  story  is  told  of  one  of  the  circle,  which,  though 
possibly  hen  trovato,  is  at  least  suggestive  of  an  inqui- 
sitive atmosphere.  One  of  the  party  writing  at  the 
table  had  a  sudden  suspicion  that  another  was  reading 
his  letter  as  he  wrote.  He  therefore  stopped  in  the 
middle  of  his  sentence  and  continued  *'  Blank  is  reading 
this  letter  upside  down  as  I  write,  so  I  don't  tell  you 
the  rest  of  the  story.''  And  Blank,  a  young  lady, 
blushed  so  scarlet  that  the  writer's  suspicions  were  duly 
justified. 

Nor  did  Shirley  disguise  his  love  of  gossip.  Here  are 
two  extracts  from  his  diaries  which  are  dehghtful  in 
the  na'iveness  of  their  self -revelation. 

There  was  a  report  going  the  rounds  about  the 
beautiful  Mrs.  Rousby,  the  actress,  and  a  celebrated 
actor,  and  he  writes  : — 

"  Cab  to  G[arrick].  Special  meeting  of  P.  Simpson, 
Walter  Lacy,  Johnny  Deane  and  self  round  stove  in 
hall  to  discuss  the  scandal.  Talk  of  women  loving  such 
things — we  are  deliberate  and  unimpassioned  tale- 
bearers— none  of  us  care  a  d —  about  it,  and  we  talk 
of  nothing  else." 

And  the  next  day  : — 

"  Wrote  T.  Taylor,  on  two  or  three  matters,  but 
really  to  allude  to  the  scandal !  " 

Very  reprehensible,  no  doubt,  but  surely  easily 
forgiven  for  the  frankness  of  the  confession. 

Of  course,  there  were  some  people  who,  from  one 

73 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

cause  or  another,  did  not  love  Shirley  Brooks.  He 
was  too  successful  a  man  not  to  arouse  jealousies. 
There  was,  for  example,  a  certain  would-be-smart 
person  named  Cecil  Hay,  who  in  1870  pubHshed  two 
volumes  dealing  with  *'  The  Club  and  the  Drawing- 
Room."  Here,  in  his  description  of  the  habitues  of 
the  Garrick  Club,  Shirley  appears  under  the  guise  of 
"  Mr.  Cynical  Suave.''  I  give  the  passage  for  what 
it  is  worth,  which  is  little  enough,  for,  from  the  whole 
tone  of  the  book,  Mr.  Hay  must  have  been  a  most 
un-clubable  person,  and  just  such  an  one  as  Shirley 
or  any  other  clubable  man  would  have  heartily  and 
rightly  detested  : — 

'*  A  very  different  person  indeed  from  Mr.  Grizzly 
is  Mr.  Cynical  Suave,  who  is  lounging  at  his  ease  in  that 
very  tempting  armchair.  Like  Mr.  Grizzly,  Mr.  Suave 
is  a  novelist,  and  a  novelist  of  a  very  high  order.  His 
books  are  full  of  pretty  comments,  overflow  with 
genuine  epigrams,  sting  with  their  sarcasm,  sparkle 
with  vivacity,  and  fix  irresistibly  the  most  dull  and 
lethargic  of  readers  by  the  ingenious  excellence  of 
their  plots.  And,  a  very  rare  thing  to  find,  Mr.  Cynical 
Suave  is  in  conversation  much  what  his  books  are 
in  literature.  He  is  exceedingly  amusing,  very  sharp, 
especially  if  you  expose  your  flank  to  him  by  some 
heedless  remark — apparently  the  soul  of  geniality  and 
the  quintessence  of  wit ;  just  the  sort  of  man  that 
every  one  is  certain  to  like  immensely  the  first  time  of 
meeting  ;  to  like  perhaps  with  moderation  the  second 
time  ;  and  cordially  to  detest  the  third.  It  is  cur- 
rently reported  that  Mr.  Cynical  Suave  is  not  amenable 
to  any  of  those  sentiments  which  are  generated  by  the 
virtue  of  charity  ;  that  he  will  be  your  very  good  friend 

74 


REPARTEE 

one  moment,  and  make  a  very  good  fool  of  you  behind 
your  back  the  next ;  that  he  is  precisely  the  one  man 
of  all  others  whom  it  is  dangerous  to  convert  into  an 
enemy,  and  whom  at  the  same  time  it  is  impossible  to 
count  upon  as  an  ally/' 

Of  the  real  flavour  of  conversation,  of  verbal  and 
other  felicities,  it  is  hard  to  recover  anything  worth 
having  after  the  lapse  of  decades.  The  fizz  has  gone 
out  of  the  champagne.  Laughter  has  lost  its  ring. 
We  can  but  recover  the  muffled  echo. 

One  of  Shirley's  repartees  has  been  often  told 
and  always  told  wrong.  One  day  at  Mr.  Frith's 
dinner-table  one  of  the  guests  exclaimed  : — 

''Punch!  does  anyone  read  P^ncA  ?  I  know  I  can't." 

'*  No  one  would  expect  that  you  could,"  flashed  back 
Shirley. 

This  story  has  had  considerable  currency,  and  I 
suppose  appeals  to  some  humours.  Personally,  I 
confess,  it  seems  to  me  merely  unmannerly. 

Puns  were  dreadfully  in  vogue  in  those  days.  One 
summer  evening  Thackeray  arrived  late  at  the  Punch 
dinner.  He  had  given  up  a  lady's  dinner  for  a  dinner 
with  Lord  John  Russell,  and  the  little  statesman  had 
left  him  in  the  lurch.  ''  So,"  he  said,  ''  I  come  as  a 
peas-aller  to  Mr.  P.  to  eat  my  peas  in  peace." 

'*  But  you  must  mind  your  Q's  as  well,"  said  Shirley, 
''  and  you  must  take  your  cues  from  me  or  I  shall  not 
excuse  you." 

Here  are  others  from  Mr.  Silver's  well-stored  memory : 

One  day  Shirley  brought  up  for  dessert  a  noble 
pineapple  which  had  been  sent  to  him  from  Barbadoes. 

75 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

"  What  a  beauty  !  ''  exclaimed  Thackeray,  and  then 
without  a  moment's  hesitation,  ''  Silver,  aren't  you 
proud,  Pinus  silvae  filia  nohilis  ? '' 

For  an  instant  Mr.  Silver  hesitated  for  a  reply  and 
Shirley  burst  in  : — 

*'  My  dear  Thackeray,  please  remember  that  poor 
Silver  is  yet  unwed.  How  can  he  recognise  her  yet — 
in  good  society  ?  '' 

Here  is  an  example  of  Shirley's  readiness  with  a 
striking  metaphor.  The  talk  was  of  mercenary 
literature. 

"  Writing  a  fine  poem,"  he  burst  out,  "  merely  to 
make  money  by  it,  is  like  turning  a  watermill  with  the 
sacred  stream  of  Jordan,  or  chopping  up  the  Cedars  of 
Lebanon  for  firewood." 

"  My  carriage  is  waiting  for  Silver,"  once  cried  Du 
Maurier  impatiently,  indicating  a  waiting  hansom  cab. 

''  And  mine  for  gold,"  said  Shirley,  *'  for  /  can't 
afford  one." 

Here  is  another  example  of  the  readiness  and 
rapidity  with  which  the  spark  of  his  wit  set  fire  to  a 
train  of  thought : 

Mr.  Silver  had  told  him  of  a  stage-failure. 

''  When  a  play  is  damned,"  he  said,  '*  the  critics 
all  turn  up  their  noses  at  it  with  a  sniff  as  if  they  smelt 
the  sulphur.  And,  after  all,  some  of  our  playwrights 
may  be  all  the  better  for  a  Httle  brimstone.  It  might 
help  to  cure  them  of  their  itch  for  popularity." 

And  here  another. 

Partridges  were  rather  prematurely  on  the  minu 
for  dinner  one  First  day  of  September. 

76 


AS  ANECDOTIST 

"  Ah/'  said  Shirley,  '*  considering  the  periils  their 
parents  have  survived,  I  am  always  incHned  to  call 
young  partridges  "  The  children  of  the  missed  !  '* 

Here  is  another  example  from  Sutherland  Edwards's 
manuscript  mentioned  above : 

Angus  Reach  had  been  teUing  a  story  of  a  mediaeval 
German  baron,  quoted,  I  fancy,  from  ''  Grimm's 
Fairy  Tales,"  who,  just  above  a  small  courtyard 
through  which  lay  the  entrance  to  his  hall,  sus- 
pended an  immense  millstone.  He  expected  a  visit 
of  creditors  from  the  neighbouring  town  and,  as  soon 
as  they  had  all  assembled  in  the  courtyard,  let  down 
the  millstone  and  crushed  them. 

**  A  perfectly  legal  action,"  said  Brooks  promptly. 
"  He  was  well  within  his  rights.  He  was  merely 
making  a  composition  with  his  creditors." 

From  some  corner  of  his  memory  Shirley  was  for 
ever  picking  out  a  good  story  which  was  new  even  to 
such  accomplished  anecdotists  as  his  co-workers. 

There  was  the  stuttering  clergyman  who  generally 
made  his  pauses  in  the  wrong  places.  One  day  he  was 
pleading  for  a  sailor  who  was  g-going — to  sea  his  wife 
— d-desired  the  prayers  of  the  congregation. 

He  was  rarely  rough  on  anyone,  but  now  and  then 
he  was  betrayed  into  severity. 

A  budding  young  statesman  had  been  advised  to 
read  in  Shirley's  presence  something  that  Shirley  had 
written  on  a  subject  upon  which  the  young  gentleman 
required  enlightenment. 

''  Brooks,"  he  said,  as  the  ideas  sunk  into  his  brain, 
''  Brooks,  you  are  mad.     Brooks,  you  are  mad." 

77 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

''  Never  mind,  my  dear  fellow/'  said  Shirley,  '*  it 
requires  brains  to  go  mad.     There's  no  fear  for  you.'* 

But  he  was  rarely  so  unkind  as  that,  and,  if  he  did 
find  that  his  wit  had  been  too  sharp,  would  be  quick 
to  turn  its  point. 

As  Mr.  Spielmann  says,  '*  he  was  as  witty  as  Jerrold 
without  the  sting,  but,  when  he  chose,  he  could 
strike  hard,  and,  as  he  himself  once  said,  never  care  a 
'  horse's  mamma.'  .  .  .  The  faculty  (of  unexpected 
spontaneity)  is  distinctive  of  some  of  his  best  mots." 

One  day  he  was  looking  at  Edmund  Yates's  book- 
shelves.    Pausing  before  one  of  them,  he  read  off : — 
Homer's  Iliad  !   Homer's  "  (pausing  on  the  word), 

Well,  yes,  that  ^5  the  best." 

''  On  another  occasion,"  says  Mr.  Spielmann,  ''  he, 
with  Mr.  George  Chester  (my  informant),  was  on  a  visit 
to  Mark  Lemon  at  Crawley,  and  at  the  breakfast-table 
a  discussion  arose  between  the  two  men  upon  noses, 
their  shapes  and  characteristics.  Turning  kindly  to 
one  of  his  host's  little  daughters,  and  looking  at  her 
delicate  little  nez  retroussij  he  said,  *  When  they  were 
looking  about  for  a  nose  for  you,  my  dear,  they  chose 
the  first  that  turned  up'^ — a  joke  often  since  repeated 
and  well  nigh  worked  to  death." 

Here  is  a  story  sent  to  me  by  Mr.  Goodman,  a  nephew 
of  Charles  Salaman. 

On  being  introduced  to  Shirley,  that  well-known 
composer  said  :  ''I  have  often  seen  your  face,  Mr. 
Brooks,  but  I  never  knew  to  whom  it  belonged." 

"  Oh,"  repHed  Brooks  quickly,  *'  it  always  belonged 
to  me  !  " 

He  was  very  quick  to  play  upon  words. 

78 


GOOD  AND  BAD  JOKES 

Mr.  Frith  tells  how  the  merits  of  a  certain  poet 
were  under  discussion.  Someone  objected  that  his 
writings  were  immoral  and  indecent,  and  that  he  was 
not  a  poet  at  all. 

**  Not  a  poet  at  all  ?  ''  echoed  an  admirer,  "  why 
the  man  was  born  a  poet !  and  if  ever  man  proved  the 
truth  of  the  adage,  '  poeta  nascitur,  non  fit/  X.  is  that 
man.*' 

*'  So  he  is,"  said  Brooks,  *'  he  is  a  poet  of  nastiness 
not  fit  for  publication."* 

But  Shirley  had  not  merely  the  capacity  for  making 
good  jokes.  When  the  atmosphere  was  sufficiently 
charged  with  gaiety  he  could  be  irresponsibly  funny. 
He  had  the  gift  of  nonsense.  He  was  not  too  proud 
to  make  himself  ridiculous  for  the  delectation  of  the 
moment.  If  a  bad  riddle  came  into  his  head  he  would 
out  with  it,  for  it  was  always  worth  while  to  laugh  : — 

"  Why  am  I  like  a  hospital  blanket  ?  "  he  said  to 
Mr.  Frith  at  the  end  of  a  stiff  climb.  *'  Because  Fm 
on  the  top  of  the  'ill."  And  the  big  man  roared,  and 
everyone  else  roared,  and  they  were  all  the  better  for  it. 

As  we  have  seen,  Shirley  could  pay  a  very  pretty 
compliment. 

Thackeray,  usually  the  soul  of  punctuality,  arrived 
late  one  evening  at  the  Punch  Table,  and  explained 
that  he  had  "  barked  his  shin  "  in  stepping  from  a 
carriage. 

*'  You'd  better  see  a  doctor,"  said  Mark  Lemon. 
"  I've  heard  that  the  old  fellow  who  used  to  drive 

♦  I  have  since  seen  this  attributed  to  someone  other  than  Shirley. 

79 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

'  The  Age/  the  Brighton  coach  you  know,  barked  his 
shin  and  died  from  it/* 

''  Yes/'  said  Shirley,  *'  so  Fve  heard,  but  you  see 
with  Thackeray  it's  different.  He  doesn't  drive  the 
Age,  he  leads  it." 

''  Thank  you,"  said  Thackeray,  ''  that's  very  nicely 
said.     I  drink  to  your  good  health,  sir." 

Sometimes  his  jokes,  when  repeated,  lost  their 
flavour,  as  jokes  are  apt  to  do.  Here  is  a  pleasing 
example  from  the  pen  of  Montagu  Williams.* 

"  Mr.  Keeley  was  very  fond  of  telUng  stories  of  his 
wife,  to  whom  he  was  most  devotedly  attached,  and 
I  remember  one  of  them  that  caused  a  good  deal  of 
amusement  as  related.  Shirley  Brooks,  it  appeared, 
had  gone  to  live  in  a  little  cottage  in  the  country, 
where  he  devoted  himself,  among  other  things,  to  the 
rearing  of  fowls,  ducks  and  pigs.  One  day  a  pig  was 
killed,  and  he  sent  a  portion  of  the  animal  in  a  parcel 
to  Mrs.  Keeley,  with  these  hues  :  '  His  end  was  peace, 
so  I  send  you  a  piece  of  his  end.'  Roaring  with 
laughter,  the  old  gentleman  would  say,  alluding  to 
his  wife  :  '  Mother  was  telling  the  story  the  other 
day  to  somebody  sitting  next  her  at  dinner,  and  she 
remarked,  '*  So  clever  of  Shirley,  you  know ;  when  he 
sent  us  the  parcel  he  wrote  on  a  piece  of  paper  inside, 
'  His  end  was  peace,  so  I  send  you  a  bit  of  the  pig.'  " 

I  have  said  that  Shirley  was  a  great  reader  and 
possessed  a  remarkable  memory.  As  a  test  of  his 
power,  Mrs.  Jopling  Rowe  tells   me   he   would   read 

♦  Vide  "  Leaves  of  a  Life." 

80 


MISQUOTATIONS 

a  page  of  printed  matter  backwards  and  then 
immediately  repeat  it  forwards  ! 

At  capping  verses,  a  game  much  in  vogue  in  his  day, 
only  Macaulay  could  have  rivalled  him.  The  pick  of 
EngHsh  poetry  from  Chaucer  to  Tennyson  was  at  his 
tongue's  tip. 

But  I  doubt  whether  even  Macaulay  would 
have  approached  him  in  his  powers  of  deliberate 
misquotation. 

A  few  examples  have  happily  escaped  oblivion. 

When  Mr.  Fall,  the  photographer,  first  settled  in 
Baker  Street,  he  asked  Shirley,  whose  portrait  he  had 
taken  gratis,  for  a  testimonial.  Shirley  at  once 
repHed  : — 

"  Except  that  I  sat  to  you,  the  following  line  from 
Milton  appears  to  indicate  the  relations  between  us  : — 

'  Sufficient  to  have  stood,  though  freCy  to  Fall.'  " 

Here  are  two  more. 

It  was  in  the  days  when  monstrous  chignons 
disfigured  the  heads  of  pretty  girls  : — 

"  What  great  heads  girls  have  nowadays,''  said  an 
old  lady. 

**  Yes,''  said  Shirley,  '*  they  remind  me  of  Shake- 
speare's line  about  the  billows  '  curling  their  monstrous 
heads,'  and  they've  got  precious  little  inside  them  too." 

On  one  occasion,  Yates  relates  in  his  ''  Reminis- 
cences," talk  turned  on  the  horrors  of  catalepsy  and 
being  buried  alive.  Yates  mentioned  the  Frankfort 
custom  of  depositing  bodies  in  the  dead-house  for 
twenty-four    hours    before    burial,    with    a    bell-rope 

81 

7— (3297) 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

attached  to  the  wrist,  by  which  a  signal  might  at  once 
be  given  in  the  event  of  returning  animation. 

"  Ah/'  said  Shirley,  without  a  moment's  hesitation, 
"  that  evidently  suggested  Tennyson's  line  : 

*  Many  a  morning  on  the  moorland  did  I  hear  the  copses  ring  !  '  " 

But,  though  Shirley's  mind  was  crammed  full  of 
poetry,  he  had  no  love  for,  or  knowledge  of, 
music. 

One  day  Mr.  Silver  and  Charles  Keene  had  been 
singing  in  the  chorus  of  the  Handel  Festival  at  the 
Crystal  Palace,  and  arrived  late,  tired  and  hungry, 
at  the  Punch  dinner.  They  enlarged  upon  the  dis- 
comforts which  they  had  undergone  in  the  over- 
crowded trains,  for  there  was  no  High-Level  then. 
At  first  Shirley  chaffed  them  pitilessly,  declaring 
that  the  game  was  not  worth  the  candle,  that  it  was 
waste  of  time  and  all  the  rest  of  it.  Then  he  changed 
his  tone,  confessing  that  he  had  no  right  to  criticise 
their  taste,  for  the  concord  of  sweet  sounds  meant 
nothing  to  him.  And  then  he  stirred  their  laughter 
by  telling  how,  totally  ignorant  of  music  as  he  was, 
in  the  exercise  of  his  Jack-of-all-trades  journalism, 
he  had  often  suppUed  *'  copy  "  to  the  newspapers  on 
musical  subjects.  Here  was  a  fine  fragment  of  his 
critical  inventiveness  : — 

**  Over  the  deep  abyss  of  bass  there  floated,  hke  a 
poised  lark,  a  silvery  cloud  of  treble,  amid  which  the 
shrill  tremolo  of  the  higher  strings  seemed  quiveringly 
to  glitter  like  the  arrows  of  a  sun-shaft  through  the 
mist   of  early  morning." 

82 


HIS  MEMORY 

But  that  is  drifting  away  from  the  point  that  I  was 
on — his  marvellous  memory  for  poetry  and  his  power 
of  adapting  quotations  to  unexpected  uses. 

I  shall  conclude  this  chapter  by  giving  a  passage 
from  a  remarkable  contribution  made  by  him  to  the 
1865  ''Pocket  Book/'  which,  he  assured  the  Punch 
Table,  had  been  composed  without  any  reference  to 
the  poets  whose  work  he  so  cleverly  misused,  and  had 
taken  him  but  little  time  or  thought.  He  fitly  entitled 
the  production  "  Mnemosyne,*'  and  modestly  declared 
himself  *'  the  greatest  poet  of  this  or  any  other  age." 
For  proof  he  sends  this  short  poem  (of  some  seventy 
lines)  which  he  has  just  *'  knocked  off."  Therein,  he 
says — and  says,  be  it  remarked,  with  a  truthfulness 
about  which  there  can  be  no  question — he  has 
**  combined  the  beauties  of  Milton,  Shakespeare,  and 
Marlowe,"  together  with  a  score  of  other  poets,  includ- 
ing Mrs.  Browning,  ''  Festus  "  Bailey,  Bryant,  Byron, 
Bulwer-Lytton,  Akenside  and  Burns.  As  an  effort  of 
memory  it  would,  I  think,  be  hard  to  beat,  composed 
as  it  is  of  rhyming  lines  divorced  from  their  contexts 
and  woven  into  a  sounding,  though,  it  must  be 
confessed,  wholly  senseless,  '*  poem." 

It  would  not  be  a  bad  exercise  for  a  wet  day  to  see 
who  could  appropriate  to  their  authors  the  larger 
number  of  these  pilfered  lines  : — 

"  Full  many  a  gem  of  purest  ray  serene. 
That  to  be  hated  needs  but  to  be  seen. 
Invites  my  lays :    be  present,  sylvan  maids, 
And  graceful  deer  reposing  in  the  shades. 
I  am  the  Morning  and  the  Evening  Star, 
Drag  the  slow  barge  or  whirl  the  rapid  car, 
83 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

While  wrapt  in  fire  the  realms  of  ether  glow, 
Or  private  dirt  on  public  virtue  throw. 
How  small  of  all  that  human  hearts  endure 
The  short  and  simple  annals  of  the  poor  ! 
I  would  commend  their  bodies  to  the  rack  : 
At  least  we'll  die  with  harness  on  our  back. 
Remote,  unfriended,  melancholy,  slow. 
Virtue  alone  is  happiness  below, 
As  vipers  sting,  though  dead,  by  some  review ; 
And  now  thou  see'st  my  soul's  angelic  hue  ! 

Hf  *  *  *  *  Utt 

Lorenzo,  to  recriminate  is  just : 

Can  storied  urn  or  animated  bust 

Survey  mankind  from  China  to  Peru, 

And  see  the  great  Achilles,  whom  we  knew  ? 

Why  to  yon  mountain  turns  the  musing  eye  ? 
Is  there  no  bright  reversion  in  the  sky  ? 
Not  to  admire  is  all  the  art  I  know, 
Or  by  the  lazy  Scheld,  or  wandering  Po  ; 
Why  was  my  Cressid  then  so  hard  to  win  ? 
The  light  is  quenched  she  looked  so  lovely  in, 
As  Argus'  eyes,  by  Hermes'  wand  oppressed, 
Sank  pleased,  but  hungry,  on  her  Sawney's  breast. 

Time  fleeted,  years  on  years  had  passed  away, 

(Laymen  have  leave  to  dance,  if  parsons  play)  ; 

Her  silent  watch  the  pensive  mother  keeps. 

And  Cupids  ride  the  lion  of  the  deeps. 

And  I  would  sooner  stop  the  unchained  dove. 

In  every  gesture  dignity  and  love. 

And  round  its  snowy  wing  new  fetters  twine. 

Than  print  one  stolen  verse,  one  borrowed  line.' 


84 


CHAPTER  V 


Characteristics  (continued) — Love  for  Children — Sympathy — 
Birthdays — Generosity — Modesty — Industry — ^WMting  to  the 
Papers — Dreams — As  Letter-\\Titer — "  Alton  Locke." 

ERELY  to  say  that  Shirley  never 
grew  old  would  be 
misleading.  He  always 
seemed  to  himself  a  boy 
masquerading  as  a  man. 
He  retained  his  freshness 
to  the  last.  He  was 
especially  in  his  element 
when  surrounded  by 
children.  To  see  him  the 
centre  of  a  group  of  wide- 
eyed  youngsters  reading 
his  favourite  poem,  '*  The 
Jabberwock/'  or ''  Alice's 
Adventures  in  Wonder- 
land/' was  to  see  him 
only  as  the  biggest  youngster  among  them. 

One  day,  dining  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Silver  at  their 
charming  house  in  The  Terrace,  Kensington,  once 
occupied  by  John  Leech,  now  swept  away  by  the 
avalanche  of  bricks  and  mortar,  Shirley  talked  of 
Leech's  love  for  children.     The  thought  of  his  dead 

85 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

friend  checked  his  gaiety  for  the  moment,  and,  as  he 
went  on  to  talk  of  his  own  Uttle  boys,  he  said  : — 

"  Fm  afraid  I  rather  spoil  them,  but  really  I  can't 
help  it.  We  can  never  be  too  kind  to  our  own 
children.  We  should  always  remember  the  wrong  we 
have  done  them  by  bringing  them  without  their  leave 
into  this  bad  world.'' 

Soon,  however,  he  lifted  the  talk  to  the  level  of 
cheerfulness  by  saying  : 

"  Yes,  you  see,  Fm  like  the  Persians,  a  son- 
worshipper  !  " 

But  it  was  not  his  way  to  bore  people  by  talking  too 
long  of  his  own  affairs,  and  he  as  promptly  turned 
the  conversation  to  what  he  thought  would  be  of 
more  interest  to  his  young  hostess,  who  then  was 
new  to  England.  France,  of  course,  must  be  what 
she  wished  to  talk  of  most.  And,  if  France,  then 
Jeanne  d'Arc. 

*'  How  proud  you  must  be  that  you  were  born  in 
France,  as  she  was  !  "  he  exclaimed. 

Then  he  went  on  to  say  that,  except,  of  course,  the 
Holy  Virgin,  she  seemed  to  him  the  most  inspired  and 
heavenly-minded  of  all  the  noble  women  who  had  ever 
lived. 

It  was  this  ready  sympathy  that  made  him  especially 
beloved  of  women  and  children.  And  he  was  always 
alive  to  their  httle  affairs,  their  little  interests. 

It  was  characteristic  of  what  ''  Ponny  "  May  hew 
called  his  *'  ready-money  "  memory  that  he  did  not 
ignore  what  most  men  would  consider  beneath  their 
notice.     He  knew  that  great  things  could,  hke  grown-up 

86 


BIRTHDAYS 

people,  take  care  of  themselves.  It  was  the  little 
things  of  life,  like  little  children,  that  needed  fostering. 

It  was  part  of  his  religion  to  remember  birthdays. 
They  were  the  rubrics  of  his  breviary,  the  saints*  days 
of  his  friendships,  and,  however  overwhelmed  with 
work  he  was,  few  days  passed  without  his  marking 
them  with  a  birthday  letter  to  somebody. 

Once  at  the  Punch  Table,  to  the  surprise  of  Mr.  Silver, 
who  had  no  idea  that  Shirley  even  knew  Mrs.  Silver's 
birthday,  he  raised  his  glass  to  her  health,  and  sent 
the  following  story  as  a  birthday  present  : — 

A  small  boy  declared  that  there  were  but  eight 
commandments.  He  knew  that  there  had  been  ten. 
''  But  Bobby  broke  two  yesterday.  He  first  stole  my 
sugar-plums  and  then  said  he  hadn't  seen  them.*' 

Mrs.  Silver  still  remembers  a  pretty  little  compliment 
he  paid  her,  partly  no  doubt  because  it  was  the 
sort  of  compliment  a  woman  never  forgets,  partly  too 
because,  in  those  days,  she  wondered  at  an  Englishman 
having  the  wit  to  pay  it.  Mr.  Silver  had  been  telling 
him  of  a  fly-catcher  nesting  in  their  urban  garden 
and  sitting  quietly  on  her  nest  throughout  a  large 
garden  party,  although  all  the  ladies  were  brought 
up  in  turn  to  look  at  her. 

''  What  a  good  little  woman  !  ''  exclaimed  Shirley. 

Then,  turning  to  Mrs.  Silver,  he  said  in  his  courtliest 
manner  : 

*'  I  fear  Fm  rather  sceptical  about  the  goodness  of 
good  women,  but,  whenever  Fm  talking  with  you, 
I  become  quite  a  believer  in  it." 

Shirley  had  much  of  the  simplicity  of  a  great  man 

87 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

combined  with  the  sophistication  of  a  man  of  the  world. 
His  kindhness  was  innate,  and  kept  aHve  by  observ- 
ances ;  his  business-Hke  quaHties  were  the  result  of 
definite  moral  determination.  It  was  the  first  that 
made  him  beloved  by  all  around  him,  the  last  that 
brought  him  the  success  he  deserved. 

As  he  was  never  too  busy  to  write  a  birthday  letter, 
so  he  was  never  too  busy  to  cut  a  scrap  out  of  a  news- 
paper, or  copy  out  a  passage  from  a  book,  and  send  it 
to  the  person  whom  it  would  most  gratify. 

On  this  point  Mrs.  Jopling  Rowe  writes :  ''With  all  his 
untiring  kindness,  speaking  to,  and  writing  to  everyone 
whom  he  thought  might  help  me,  he  never  wished  or 
expected  thanks.  .  .  .  He  never  let  one  feel  under  an 
obligation  to  him.  .  .  .  Busy  as  his  life  was,  he  always 
found  time  to  give  a  helping  hand  to  those  in  need 
of  it.'^ 

As  it  was  with  friends,  so  it  was  with  certain  of  his 
relations  and  acquaintances  who  were  anything  but 
friends.'  The  diaries  are  punctuated  with  notes  of 
letters  to  and  from  what  he  called  his  ''  suckers  '* — 
poor  and  improvident  and  ungrateful  kinsmen,  poor 
and  unfortunate  acquaintances  of  early  days  who  now 
presumed  on  former  friendship — or  the  reverse— to 
demand  assistance,  and  poor  and  unsuccessful  writers 
who  knew  him,  or  did  not  know  him,  and  who  traded 
on  his  recognised  generosity. 

These  were,  of  course,  in  a  different  category  from 
his  father,  the  responsibihty  for  whose  maintenance 
for  many  years  he  cheerfully  assumed  as  a  matter  of 
course. 

88 


CURIOSITY 

We  may  not  much  admire  Shirley's  love  of  gossip. 
Curiosity  was  indeed  a  note  of  his  character.  But  it 
was  not  all  or  mostly  morbid.  Gossip  on  a  point  of 
literary  interest  or  scholarship  appealed  to  him  as  much 
as  gossip  about  people.  He  would  hoard  up  a  piquant 
morsel  until  the  moment  came  for  firing  it  off  with 
best  effect. 

One  day  he  records  in  his  diary  how  he  had  been 
shown  at  the  '^  Garrick ''  a  manuscript  by  Pope  con- 
taining an  unpubhshed  and  appalling  hne  on  the  Duke 
of  Marlborough  : 

"  *  Madness  and  lust,'  said  God,  *  shall  be  thy  heirs.'  " 

With  this  in  his  head  he  went  to  that  night's  dinner- 
party, waited  for  the  psychological  moment,  and  then 
flung  it  down.  In  his  own  words,  *'  it  burst  on  them 
like  a  shell."  He  gloated  over  it  as  an  anarchist  over 
a  successful  piece  of  bomb-throwing. 

He  was  not  a  learned  man  in  the  ordinary  sense. 
He  was  inquisitive  and  never  forgot.  Knowledge  had 
accumulated  rather  than  been  acquired.  What  he 
knew  had  not  come  in  streams,  cutting  grooves  in  his 
mind.  It  had  come  in  drops,  gradually  flooding  it. 
Thus  he  became  broad-minded,  level-minded,  tolerant. 
Tout  comprendre  was  with  him  tout  pardonner.  Know- 
ledge was  of  the  heart  as  well  as  of  the  brain.  He  was 
a  walking  Notes  and  Queries,  bound  up  with  a 
''  Dictionary  of  Quotations ''  of  his  own  making. 

And  then  his  industry.  For  years  he  contributed 
weekly  at  least  two  columns  to  Punch,  which  was 
printed  much  closer  in  those  days,  a  page  of  gossip  to 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

the  Illustrated  London  News,  and  leaders  to  the  twin 
editions  of  Home  News.  And  most  of  the  time  he 
would  have  a  burlesque  or  melodrama  on  hand,  or  a 
serial  novel  appearing  in  monthly  numbers. 

There  was  no  typewriting  in  those  days.  He  had 
no  secretary.  Every  scrap  of  transcribing  was  done 
with  his  own  hand,  and,  what  was  more,  it  was  a  joy 
to  the  type-setters.  Barring  Thackeray,  whose  eyes, 
though  short-sighted,  were,  unlike  Sam  Weller's,  of 
''  hextra  "  magnifying  power,  he  wrote  a  clearer  and 
smaller  hand  than  any  of  the  Punch  men  of  his  day. 

And  his  brain  worked  smoothly  as  his  hand,  like 
the  parts  of  a  well-balanced  machine. 

Few  men,  I  should  fancy,  ever  wrote  six  songs  in 
one  day  at  three  guineas  apiece,  but  Shirley  did,  and, 
what  is  worse,  was  proud  of  having  done  it. 

In  a  word,  Shirley  was  a  man  wrought  almost  to  the 
pitch  of  j  ournalistic  perfection.  Outwardly  monotonous, 
inwardly  his  work  was  alive  with  variety.  Ostensibly 
a  slavery,  it  came  to  be  the  very  acme  of  freedom. 
The  periodical  press  was  his  world,  and  he  never 
lost  the  flavour  of  its  many  little,  its  rarely  exalted, 
triumphs.  Even  after  he  became  the  powerful  editor 
of  a  powerful  periodical,  he  continued  to  note  in  his 
diary  the  quotations  made  from  his  contributions  in  the 
pages  of  his  contemporaries,  and  he  never  tired  of 
firing  off  letters  to  the  Times,  and  never  ceased  to 
triumph  at  seeing  his  name  in  print. 

This  was  also  a  fad  of  his  father's,  who  apparently 
spent  a  good  part  of  his  leisurely  old  age  in  writing  to 
the  papers  or  to  persons  in  exalted  positions.     Many 

90 


ALWAYS  LEARNING 

of  these  epistles  were  rather  indiscreet.  Fortunately 
he  used  to  send  them  to  Shirley  to  correct,  which  he 
sometimes  did  and  sometimes  treated  more  drastically. 
Here  is  an  example.  On  June  20th,  1865,  he  writes 
in  his  diary  :  *'  Letter  from  the  governor  to  the  Queen, 
begging  and  praying  that  the  new  Prince  may  not  be 
called  '  Emmanuel,'  as  it  is  wicked.  But  I  do  not 
think  it  will  influence  her,  for  several  reasons,  one  being 
that  I  will  not  send  it.*' 

Shirley  was  not,  I  think,  so  much  conceited,  as 
interested  in  himself  as  a  phenomenon  amongst 
phenomena.  Constantly  we  catch  him  in  his  diaries 
struck  with  astonishment  that  one  small  brain,  perhaps 
a  few  grains  heavier  than  the  average,  could  carry,  and 
make  use  of,  all  he  knew. 

Indeed,  I  find  him  rather  modest  than  conceited, 
not  regarding  himself  as  a  great  man,  but  alive  to 
the  fun  of  being  so  regarded.  Certainly  he  was 
never  too  proud  to  learn  of  his  colleagues  or  anyone 
else. 

Here  are  two  undated  letters  which  may  stand  for 
examples  : — 

Shirley  Brooks  to  Percival  Leigh. 

"  6  Kent  Terrace, 

"  Regent's  Park, 

"  Saturday. 

*'  My  dear  Leigh, 

''  Here's  your  weather,  and  how  are  the  field-fares  ? 

''  I  want  to  ask  you  a  semi-classical  question.   First, 

how    would    you    Latinize    Shirley  ?    Second,    what 

would  you  make  its  genitive  ?     I  have  no  doubt,  but 

91 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

I  want  an  authoritative  testimony,  as  I  profess  only 
a  skimmy  classicality. 

**  My  fingers  are  too  cold  to  write  more ;  just  give 
me  a  line  in  reply. 

'*  Ever  yours, 

"S.  B/* 

Ditto  to  Ditto. 

*'  My  dear  Leigh, 

''  Of  your  charity.  Is  Phlegethon,  river  in  hell, 
accented  on  the  first  syllable  ?  If  so,  never  mind. 
If  not,  do  hke  a  good  fellow  ask  for  an  epigram  in 
which  I  have  made  it  rhyme  to  *  eggeth  on,*  and  alter 
it  into  something  else.  It  seems  outrageous  to  be 
uncertain,  but  away  from  books  and  thoughtful  habits, 
uncertainties  come  on  one,  and  I  have  a  touch  of 
colchicum,  though  not  much. 

'*  Ever, 

Like  many  other  men  actively  engaged  in  mental 
labour  and  careless  of  their  digestions,  Shirley  hardly 
knew  the  meaning  of  dreamless  sleep.  And  his 
dreams  were  so  much  a  matter  of  interest  to  him  that 
he  laid  himself  out  to  record  them  in  his  diary.  Here 
are  some  amusing  examples  : — 

"  Feb.  2&h,  1870. 

*'  Fancy  I  dreamed  of  receiving  a  deputation  from 
the  lower  orders,  asking  that  public  men  might  not 
quote  Latin.  Replied  that  no  offence  was  meant, 
and  that  it  was  only  a  sort  of  Shibboleth,  like  the  brutal 
language  of  the  lower  orders  themselves.  Yet  meant 
to  be  considerate  and  respectful." 

92 


ODD   DREAMS 

''Sept.  nth,  1870. 

'*  Did  not  sleep  over  well,  and  had  unpleasant 
dreams  about  one,  of  whom,  waking,  I  never  think 
but  in  love.  These  things  should  show  us  the  abject 
folly  of  caring  for  a  dream,  yet,  as  Shelley  says,  it  can 
*  poison  sleep/  ** 

"  Nov.  Sth,  1870. 

*'  Odd  dreams ;  saw  a  girl  who  was  engaged,  but, 
wishing  it  secret,  had  put  the  ring,  a  signet  with  words, 
on  her  Httle  toe  !  '' 

"  August  Sth,  1873. 

"  Had  odd  dreams,  but  I  find  that  unless  one  records 
even  the  vividest  dream  in  the  most  detailed  and  exact 
way,  one  utterly  forgets  it.  A  mere  reference  is  useless, 
though  when  making  it  one  seems  never  likely  to  forget 
the  vision.  This  is  noteworthy — words  really  said 
to  one  would  certainly  be  recalled  by  a  slight 
memorandum.'* 

"  August  29th,  1873. 

"  Idiotic  dream,  of  which  I  see  I  took  note,  about 
my  grandfather  S.,  who  was  going  to  wrong  me  by 
marrying  a  nymph,  called  Daphne.  Perhaps  he  will 
explain  '  in  another  place.' '' 

"  Sept.  ISth,  1873. 

'*  Slept  well,  and  dreamt  that  one  of  my  little  toes 
had  come  off,  but  I  did  not  seem  to  care.  Where  is  the 
Daniel  to  expound  ?  *' 

"  Dec.  22nd,  1873. 

*'  Had  an  odd  dream — thought  I  was  reading  Milton, 
and  came  on  a  passage  in  which  the  angel,  i.e,,  some 
angel,  talking  to  innocent  and  naked  Eve,  told  her 
that  all  the  angels  believed  that  when  God  had  made 
Adam,  the  Deity  had  done  all  He  meant  to  do  for 
the  world,  and  that  no  angel  believed  He  would  create 

93 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

for  it  a  being  so  like  themselves.     A  very  civil  angel,  but 
is  there  anything  like  it  in  *  P.  L/  ?     I  don*t  think  so/' 

"(1873.) 

''  Dreamed  a  glorious  dream  !  P.  of  Wales  came  to 
Garrick  Club.  I  did  not  seek  to  speak  to  him,  but, 
hearing  my  name,  he  said  *  Are  you  C.  W.  S.  B.  ?  * 
*  That  is  my  name,  sir/  '  But  I  am  d — d  if  you  shall 
have  it  longer — you  shall  be  a  baronet.  FU  see  to 
that ;   think  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton.'  *' 

Early  in  the  *'  sixties,''  he  said  at  the  Punch  Table*  : 
''  I  often  travel  in  Dreamland,  but  seldom  come  away 
with  anything  worth  going  for.  I  once  dreamed  that 
I  saw  Bradbury  whacking  **  Pater "  Evans  on  the 
knuckles  with  a  walking-stick,  and  distinctly  heard 
him  quote  Lady  Macbeth — *  See  how  oiu:  Partner's 
rapt.'  "  t 

Thereupon    Sir    John   Tenniel    recalled    a    couplet 

dreamed  by  Douglas  Jerrold, 

'*  And  now  our  hero's  grown  so  tall 
His  knees  are  on  his  head." 

Then  Mark  Lemon  said  that  he  once  dreamed  a  play, 
got  out  of  bed,  sat  down  in  his  night  gear,  sketched  the 
plot  out  clearly,  caught  a  violent  cold,  and  made  a 
hundred  pounds  by  it. 

Keene,  too,  said  that  he  often  dreamed  a  Punch 
drawing,  and  Tom  Taylor  wound  up  the  conversation 
by  teUing  how  he  dreamed  that  he  had  been  operated 
upon  for  stone.  After  seeing  several  extracted,  there 
came  finally  a  large  one  bearing  a  Latin  label,  which 

♦  From  Mr.  Silver's  notes. 

■j"  Here  Shirley's  memory  tripped.  •  It  was  Banquo  who  used  the 
expression,  and  he  said  "  Look/'  not  "  See." 

94 


AS  LETTER-WRITER 

he  tried  in  vain  to  decipher.  He  awoke  to  find  his 
wife's  knee  pressing  into  his  back  ! — no  doubt  the 
causa  causans  of  the  dream. 

It  is  admitted  that  Shirley  was  a  great  talker,  but 
he  did  not  talk  to  hear  his  own  voice.  He  talked 
because  he  had  interesting  things  to  say,  and  he  talked 
because  there  were  interesting  things  to  be  discovered. 
He  used  conversation  as  a  spade  to  dig  up  the  thoughts 
of  others  as  well  as  his  own.  He  talked  because  it  was 
a  pleasure,  just  as  he  worked  because  work  was  the 
greatest  pleasure  of  all.  A  lover  of  ease,  he  got  the 
reward  of  rousing  himself  to  energy.  A  lover  of  society, 
he  never  allowed  its  attractions  to  master  him.  A 
lover  of  books,  he  was  not  betrayed  into  pedantry. 
Loving  life,  he  recognised  that  it  was  a  mortal 
disease.  Living  in  the  presence  of  death,  he  did  not 
allow  its  nearness  to  damp  his  ardour  for  activity. 

In  this  and  the  preceding  chapter  I  have  endeavoured 
to  open  the  case  for  Shirley  Brooks  as  he  appeared 
to  those  around  him.  In  the  following  pages  he  will 
often  be  given  the  opportunity  of  speaking  for  himself 
in  his  letters  and  diaries.  For  although,  through  all 
his  working  hours,  his  pen  was  in  his  hand,  Shirley 
did  not  throw  it  down  when  his  work  was  done.  Next 
to  chatting  with  a  friend  face  to  face,  he  loved  to  chat 
with  him  on  paper.  His  correspondence  was  enormous. 
He  cultivated  letter- writing  as  an  art.  Few  of  even 
his  shortest  notes  but  had  a  story,  an  epigram,  a 
sentence  worth  preserving.  As  Mortimer  ColUns  said 
of  him,  he  loved  to  play  with  ideas,  blow  iridescent 
bubbles  of  thought,  and  showed  *'  the  apprehensive 

95 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

forgetive  faculty  *'  in  its  perfection.  He  wrote 
sparkling,  witty,  kindly  letters,  about  nothing  and 
everything,  by  the  hundred.  As  William  Blanchard 
J  err  old  says  of  this  and  other  qualities  : — 

"  In  some  of  his  letters  he  frolicked  like  a  schoolboy  ; 
in  others  he  would  set  seriously  to  work  to  solve  or 
illustrate  some  Hterary  subject  that  had  accidentally 
turned  up.  He  would  enter  upon  a  long  correspond- 
ence to  serve  a  friend.  You  never  found  him  exhausted, 
seldom  tired.  If  you  caught  him  lounging  by  the 
dainty  conservatory  he  had  in  his  house,  after  a  long 
day  upstairs  in  his  study,  he  would  be  reading  the  last 
Quarterly,  or  dallying  with  a  novel  by  one  of  his  friends 
— but  he  would  brighten  for  a  talk,  and  be  sure  to  shine 
in  it.  When  he  had  finished  his  correspondence  for 
the  day,  after  his  work,  he  would  take  his  letters  to  the 
post  himself.  It  was  his  orderly  way.  You  could  see 
his  methodical  mind  in  the  precise  writing,  the  un- 
broken Hues,  the  absence  of  any  sign  of  haste  from  his 
shortest  notes.  His  books  and  pictures  were  arranged 
with  extraordinary  neatness.  He  had  photograph 
albums  of  friends,  with  their  autographs  and  character- 
istic bits  from  their  letters  contrived  with  exquisite  care 
under  each.  One  letter  of  his,  which  I  happen  to  have 
under  my  hand,  is  a  good  example  of  his  unsleeping 
watchfulness  over  all  about  him,  over  the  welfare  of  a 
friend,  over  the  success  of  any  undertaking  in  which  he 
was  concerned.  The  opening  paragraph  refers  to 
some  domestic  joke  we  had  in  common  : — 

"  Ath  Monday  in  Lent  (March  24th),  1873. 

**  My  dear  William, 

''  I  can  write  to  you.  The  consciousness  of 
innocence  sits  upon  my  brow,  and  also  flutters  over 
my  inkstand,  which  I  consider  a  rather  fine  image. 

96 


A  HELPING  HAND 


it 


The  C.  K.  memorial*  will,  I  hope,  be  a  success. 
Routledge  began  it,  and  is  very  energetic.  It  ought 
to  be  something  artistic,  at  Windsor.  Some  folks  are 
pushing  about  an  *  educational  tribute,'  etc.,  but  I 
think  we  need  not  flavour  everything  with  the  smell 
of  corduroy.  'Tis  quite  dominant  enough  already. 
You  ought  to  be  on  the  committee.  .  .  . 

''  Do  you  know  Mrs.  L.  R.  ?  f  She  is  a  young  artist 
of  great  merit.  Frith  and  Tom  Taylor  prophesy  a  great 
career  for  her,  and  she  is  studying  in  Paris — having 
exhibited  many  pictures  here,  at  the  Academy,  etc. 
It  would  be  very  kind  if  L.  or  you,  or  both,  would  give 
her  a  call,  if  you  can.  I  subjoin  the  address.  I  know 
not  what  part  of  Paris  it  is  in — ^you  wiU.  If  you  go, 
say  that  you  are  friends  of  mine,  and  that  Mrs.  Brooks 
will  call  on  her  when  she  comes.  You  will  hke  her — she 
is  very  bright. 

''  No  news  but  those  you  read  in  the  papers.  They 
say  to-day  that  Jessel  is  to  be  Master  of  the  Rolls  at 
once. 

**  If  M.  Dore  is  in  Paris,  I  beg  my  best  compliments 
to  him.  Do  you  see  Plimsoll  wanted,  or  wants,  him  to 
paint  a  picture  on  the  coffin-ships  ?  And  wouldn't  he 
do  it  grandly  !     Kindest  regards. 

"  Ever  yours, 

''  Shirley  Brooks.'' 

It  may  be  noted  that  Dor6  declined  the  subject — 
deeming  it  a  poUtical  one,  on  the  merits  of  which  he 
was  not  competent  to  pronounce  judgment  with  his 
brush." 


*  The  memorial  to  Charles  Knight,  of  which  Shiriey  Brooks  was 
honorary  secretary. 

t  Mrs.  Frank  Romer,  now  Mrs.  Jopling  Rowe. 

97 

8— (2297) 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

I  shall  conclude  this  chapter  with  the  earliest  letter 
from  Shirley's  pen  which  has  come  into  my  hands.  For 
it  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  W.  L.  Fleming.  It  is  interesting 
for  more  than  one  reason.  In  the  first  place  the 
pubHcation  of  an  ''  Alton  Locke  '*  in  these  days  would 
hardly  be  looked  upon  as  a  daring  act.  In  the  second 
place  we  discover  the  revolt  against  the  three- volume 
novel  already  beginning,  though  not  destined  to  come 
to  a  head  for  several  decades.  In  the  third  place,  we 
find  Shirley  rightly  prophesying  the  sensation  which 
was  to  be  caused  by  Charles  Kingsley's  famous  novel. 

Shirley  Brooks  to  Messrs.  Chapman  &  Hall. 

"  63  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields, 
"  Tuesday.     (1849.) 

**  Dear  Sirs, 

**  I  should  have  done  myself  the  pleasure  of  asking 
personally  the  question  I  write  to  ask,  but  hardly  knew 
which  member  of  your  firm  to  enquire  for.  Let  me 
premise  that  my  making  the  following  enquiry,  and 
any  reply  you  may  send  me  will  be  confidential  matter. 
The  editor  of  the  Morning  Chronicle  (with  which  I  am 
connected)  has  requested  from  me  a  review  of  an 
extraordinary  novel  just  published  by  your  house, 
*  Alton  Locke.*  I  have  not  been  so  struck  by  any  work 
I  have  taken  up  for  years,  and  shall  endeavour  to 
make  the  article  upon  it  a  decided  exception  to  the 
ordinary  notices  one  writes  of  fictional  works.  It  is 
a  gratifying  thing  to  see  that  a  publisher  dares  to 
publish  such  a  work,  an  evidence  of  courage,  which, 
combined  with  the  two-volume  system,  promises  a 
speedy  doom  to  the  '  novel  mongering '  practices  of 
the  hour.  But  this  is  by  the  way.  I  am  anxious 
to  ask  you  whether  you  are  at  liberty  or  inclined  to 

98 


"ALTON   LOCKE''  ' 

let  me  know  the  author's  name.  I  will,  of  course, 
preserve  the  secret,  and  give  no  clue  whatever  to  it, 
if  that  be  your  wish,  but  I  could  deal  much  more 
satisfactorily  with  the  work  if  I  knew  anything  of  the 
writer's  antecedents.  If,  therefore,  you  are  at  liberty 
to  use  your  discretion  in  this  matter,  perhaps  you  will 
do  so,  and  give  me  whatever  information  you  may  think 
it  expedient  to  afford. 

**  '  Alton  Locke '  must  make  a  strange  sensation. 

"  Believe  me,  dear  Sirs, 

''  Yours  very  truly, 

"  Shirley  Brooks." 


99 


CHAPTER  VI 

Punch  and  the  Punch  Table. 

C 


HE  work  of  a  jour- 
nalist is  in  its 
essence  ephemeral. 
The  flavour  of  it 
evaporates  almost 
as  soon  as  it  is  born. 
It  does  not  mellow ;  it 
goes  flat  with  age.  Apart 
from  the  personality  of 
its  producer,  it  is,  after  its  day,  hardly  worthy  of  con- 
sideration. That  is  where  it  differs  from  literature,  or 
in  fact  any  work  destined  to  last.  The  personality  of 
a  Justinian,  a  Shakespeare,  an  Edison  is  a  secondary 
matter.  We  have  their  gifts  and  that  is  enough.  But 
with  the  great  journaHst,  the  personality  behind  the 
journalism,  when  its  day  is  past,  is  the  important  thing. 
Probably  Shirley  Brooks  did  not  leave  a  single  line 
lacking  which  English  literature  would  be  the  poorer, 
and  yet  his  work   is  important.     He  was  a  master 

100 


"PUNCH'S"   EDITORS 

mason  on  one  of  the  stages  of  the  vast  building  which 
is  always,  we  hope,  reaching  nearer  to  the  stars.  A 
person  of  importance  in  his  day,  his  personality  makes 
the  doing  of  his  work  important.  A  treadmill  on  the 
outside  is  as  uninteresting  and  unlovely  an  object  as 
you  may  discover.  Peep  inside  at  the  man  who  is 
climbing  its  unending  stairs,  and  you  will  find  that  it  is 
full  of  poignant  interest.  Or  take  an  example  which  is 
germane  to  our  subject — the  serried  array  of  Punch 
volumes  which  stands  upon  our  shelves.  Who  ever 
fully  appreciated  them  until  Mr.  Spielmann  came  along, 
took  us  behind  the  scenes,  and  showed  us  the  actors 
making  up  for  their  parts  ? 

And  what  he  has  done  with  such  skill  in  the 
case  of  all  the  company,  I  have  to  do  with  more 
particularity  in  the  case  of  one  of  Punch's  great  actor- 
managers,  the  roll  of  whom  is  complete  with  the  names 
of  Mark  Lemon,  Shirley  Brooks,  Tom  Taylor,  Sir 
Francis  Burnand,  and  Mr.  Owen  Seaman.* 

With  these  men  behind  him,  Mr.  Punch  has,  for  over 
sixty  years,  taken  a  prominent  and  leading  part  in  the 
formation  of  public  opinion.     Appealing  to  our  feelings 

*  There  has,  of  course,  been  some  controversy  as  to  the  first 
editorship.  Here  is  what  Shirley  Brooks  had  to  say  on  the  matter  : 
**  From  the  first  the  editorship  was  in  the  hands  of  my  predecessor, 
Mark  Lemon  ;  the  opening  address  was  from  his  pen,  and  he  was 
sole  editor  from  July  17th,  1841  (the  day  of  the  birth  of  the 
publication)  until  May  23rd,  1870,  the  day  of  his  lamented  death." 

As  showing  to  what  extremes  inaccuracy  has  run,  it  may  be 
mentioned  that,  according  to  the  City  Press,  Shirley  Brooks  was 
himself  one  of  the  originators  of  Punch — Shirley  Brooks  who  did  not 
come  on  the  scenes  until  ten  years  after  the  paper  was  started  ! 

101 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

as  well  as  to  our  judgment,  he  has  become  the  sublima- 
tion, the  incorporation  so  to  speak,  of  the  aphorism 
that  there  is  many  a  true  word  spoken  in  jest.  Further, 
he  has  firmly  grasped  the  fact  that  he  is  gilder-in-chief 
to  the  nation  of  not  always  palatable  pills.  For  those 
who  look  on  Punch  merely  as  the  Jester  are  curiously 
short-sighted.  They  are  ignorant  or  oblivious  of  the 
fact  that  his  policy  is  as  carefully  considered  as  that 
of  his  most  serious  contemporaries.  He  has,  of  course, 
often  been  wrong,  but,  though  it  may  sound  paradoxical, 
it  is  nevertheless  true  that,  had  he  not  been  often 
wrong,  he  could  not  have  been  oftener  right.  For  it 
is  the  Exigency  of  Being  or  Doing,  especially  with 
those  who  take  a  Hne  for  themselves,  to  be  wrong 
sometimes.  That  cannot  be  avoided,  except  by  not 
Being  nor  Doing  at  all.  And  we,  looking  back  on 
Punch's  career,  can  see  that  though  he  has  not  always 
been  right,  he  has  generally  been  on  the  side  of  the 
angels. 

But,  those  will  say  who  only  look  at  the  outside  of 
things,  Shirley  Brooks  was  editor  of  Punch  for  only 
four  years.  Whereon  does  his  claim  to  be  a  great 
Punch  force  rest  ?  The  answer  is  easy.  His  claim 
does  not  alone  rest  on  what  he  did  whilst  occupying  the 
editorial  chair.  It  rests  also  on  what  he  did  as  chief 
lieutenant  to  Mark  Lemon.  For  years  he  was  the 
hidden  mainspring,  the  power  behind  the  throne. 
Mark  Lemon  made  no  secret  of  this.  Again  and  again 
he  declared  that  Shirley  was  the  one  man  upon  whom 
he  could  depend  in  any  emergency,  and  when,  though 
still  nominally  editor,  he  was  laid  aside^  it  was  to 

102 


A  GENIUS  OF  JUDGMENT 

Shirley's  shoulders  that  all  responsibility  was  trans- 
ferred. The  truth  of  this  will  become  more  and  more 
apparent  as  the  story  unfolds  itself. 

It  is,  as  Mortimer  Collins  writing  of  Shirley  Brooks 
said,  ''  the  misfortune  of  those  who  expend  their  main 
energy  on  periodic  literature  that  their  real  genius 
is  not  often  recognised."  After  an  evening  spent  with 
Theodore  Hook,  Coleridge  said  that  he  was  as  great 
a  genius  as  Dante.  That  was  no  doubt  hyperbole, 
but  what  he  meant  was  that  genius  may  expend  itself 
on  ephemeral  themes,  and  consequently  escape  recog- 
nition. And,  though  the  man  may  lose  in  glory,  the 
profit  to  the  public  may  be  greater  than  if  he  had 
devoted  himself  to  more  permanent  forms.  Indeed, 
unhesitatingly  it  may  be  said  that  amongst  the 
geniuses,  and  I  do  not  use  the  word  lightly,  which  have 
sat  at  Punch's  Table,  there  have  been  some  who  might 
have  been  nameless  for  all  the  recognition  they  ever 
had  at  the  hands  of  the  public.  And  though  I  do  not 
claim  for  Shirley  Brooks  the  literary  genius  that  certain 
of  his  contemporaries  did,  I  do,  with  Mortimer  CoUins, 
claim  for  him  that  he  had  a  genius  of  judgment,  a 
genius  for  throwing  the  halo  of  humour  and  romance 
around  political  and  social  topics,  a  genius  for  taking  the 
sting  from  political  strife,  a  genius  for  hghtening  the 
atmosphere,  for  reconcihng  class  with  class. 

These,  I  think,  are  the  keynotes  of  Punch's  general 
policy,  not  only  to  shoot  folly  as  it  flies,  but  to  put 
things  on  a  less  serious,  and  so  a  truer,  basis. 

Anybody  who  searches  the  pages  of  Punch  for  himself 
must  have  this  borne  in  upon  him.     And  no  one  on  the 

103 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

staff  ever  carried  out  this  policy  more  loyally  and  more 
honestly  than  did  Shirley  Brooks. 

At  the  same  time  it  must  be  remembered  that,  in  his 
public  capacity,  a  journalist  has  not  altogether  a  free 
hand.  He  must  always  keep  the  law  of  libel  engraven 
on  his  heart.  He  must  consider  the  interests  of  his 
employers.  He  must  look  to  the  prosperity  of  their 
paper.  Thus  it  comes  about  that  what  he  dares  to 
pubhsh  is  but  an  inadequate  rendering  of  what  he 
really  knows  and  thinks.  It  is  of  necessity  compact 
of  reservations. 

That  is  why  we  want  to  get  behind  the  scenes  and 
supplement  the  public  utterances  of  the  journalist  with 
the  private  utterances  of  his  letters  and  diaries.  That 
is  why  we  have  the  legitimate  desire  to  know  what  the 
men,  who  have  helped  to  mould  public  opinion,  are 
in  real  life.  Then  we  can  read  between  the  lines. 
Then  the  stale  wine,  whose  virtue  has  evaporated  with 
age,  will  fizz  and  sparkle  once  again. 

An  extreme  example  of  what  I  mean  is  given  in  the 
recently  published  "  Letters  of  George  Birkbeck 
HiU  "  :— 

''  At  a  Royal  Academy  dinner  Browning  was  seated 
next  to  Disraeli,  who  remarked  to  the  poet  that  the 
walls  were  covered  with  rubbish.  Shortly  afterwards, 
however,  on  getting  up  to  speak,  Disraeli  enlarged  on 
the  glories  of  English  art,  especially  on  the  portrait- 
painting  and  the  landscapes,  and  pointed  to  the  walls. 
When  he  sat  down,  Browning  asked  him  how  he  recon- 
ciled with  his  speech  what  he  had  said  to  him  privately. 
He  replied,  '  My  dear  Browning,  are  you  so  ignorant 

104 


FIRST  CONTRIBUTION  TO   "PUNCH" 

as  not  to  know  the  difference  between  a  man's  private 
and  public  utterances  ?  '  "  When  Browning  repeated 
this  to  Gladstone  he  '*  looked  severe  and  sternly  said 
'  Hellish/  ''  But  could  Mr.  Gladstone  have  put  his 
hand  on  his  heart  and  declared  that  he  had  never  in 
his  life  been  guilty  of  mental  reservation — only  different 
in  degree  from  direct  misrepresentation  ?  If  not,  then 
he  was  often  in  the  same  box  as  his  great  rival,  for  if 
truth  means  anything,  it  means  the  whole  truth  and 
nothing  but  the  truth. 

And  Shirley  Brooks  was  in  like  case  with  every 
statesman,  every  journalist,  every  man  but  One  who 
has  ever  lived.  He  who  has  most  to  say  has  most 
to  conceal.  A  Rousseau  may  profess  to  say  every- 
thing, but  even  he  cannot.  It  is  left  to  a  Froude 
to  show  us  the  real  Carlyle,  and  even  then  but  in 
part. 

It  was  at  the  end  of  1851  that  Mark  Lemon  accepted 
Shirley's  first  sporadic  contribution,  and  before  six 
months  were  past  he  was  making  a  weekly  appearance 
in  Punch  with  his  novelette,  '*  Miss  Violet  and  her 
Offers.'*  Yates  considered  that  *'  weekly  "  should  in 
this  instance  be  spelled  with  an  ''a,"  but  there  I  differ 
from  him.  It  seems  to  me  a  good  deal  more  readable 
than  much  of  Shirley's  work  that  Yates  admired.  It 
seems  to  me  instinct  with  the  unaffected  gaiety  of  a 
young  girl,  and  though  perhaps  not  very  well  suited 
to  the  pages  of  Punch,  something  in  the  nature  of  a 
tour  de  force.  Anyhow,  Bentley  was  so  struck  by  the 
young  author's  ability,  as  displayed  in  what  Sala  caUed 
"  this  vivacious  tale  of  modern  Hfe,"  that  he  sought 

105 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

him  out  and  made  overtures  to  him  for  a  novel,  for  the 
famous  Miscellany. 

The  papers  were  repubhshed  in  book  form  in  1875, 
the  year  after  Shirley's  death,  in  conjunction  with 
"  The  Naggletons/'  The  idea  of  republishing  these 
last  had  been  mooted  as  early  as  1871,  when  Shirley 
wrote  in  his  diary  : — 

'*  Whitefriars.  They  want  to  bring  out  my 
'  Naggletons  '  in  a  separate  form.  Some  of  it  is  smart 
enough  ;   I  do  not  see  any  objection/' 

But  this  was  delayed  by  his  proposal  to  write  up  the 
dialogues  and  so  connect  them  by  a  stronger  thread 
of  interest — a  proposal  which,  in  the  event,  his 
overwhelming  engagements  rendered  impossible. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Naggleton  can  never  converse  without 
falling  foul  of  one  another.  The  following  may  stand 
for  an  example  of  Shirley's  earlier  contributions,  and 
the  more  fitly  because,  unhappily,  there  is  in  it  some 
echo  of  his  own  domestic  differences  : — 

Scene. — The  Zoological  Gardens.  A  beautiful  afternoon. 
Sunday.  The  clock  over  the  camel  says  half -past 
three.  A  large  gathering  of  the  Upper  Ten  Thousand. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Naggleton,  the  Misses  Emmeline 
and  Cecilia  Naggleton,  and  the  Masters  Edgar, 
Walter,  and  Peter  Naggleton,  all  in  spring 
array y  enter ^  and  advance  up  the  Broad  Walk. 

Mrs.  Naggleton.  Pierre,  do  not  hop.  This  is 
Sunday. 

Mr.  N.  Yes,  remember,  Peter,  nothing  hops  on 
Sundays,  except  the  birds,  who  know  no  better,  having 
no  private  tutors. 

106 


"THE  NAGGLETONS" 

Mrs.  N.  That  is  right ;  make  him  laugh  at  his 
mother's  advice. 

Mr.  N.  On  the  contrary,  my  dear,  I  would  imprint 
it  on  his  memory.  Though  I  don't  know  why  he 
shouldn't  hop,  like  the  httle  hills. 

Mrs.  N.  I  am  not  acquainted  with  the  family  you 
mention,  and  I  do  not  wish  them  proposed  as  models 
for  my  children. 

Mr.  N.  Nicely  you  attend  to  your  Brady  and  Tate, 
Mrs.  Naggleton. 

Mrs.  N.  (recollecting  and  sternly.)  Pray,  Henry, 
abstain  from  such  profanity  while  your  children  are 
within  hearing. 

Mr.  N.  Profanity  is  in  intention,  my  dear.  Mr. 
Snotchley  had  the  sense  to  quote  that,  when  you  were 
good  enough  to  laugh  at  his  old  joke  about  Paul  being 
a  cricketer,  because  he  stood  up  for  the  eleven  and  was 
bowled,  and  Rhoda  stood  at  the  wicket. 

Mrs.  N.  That  was  real  wit,  and  I  wonder  you 
understood  it. 

Mr.  N.  Oh,  wonderful  husband,  that  can  so 
astonish  his  wife  !     Shakespeare. 

Mrs.  N.  I  think  you  might  do  better  than  mouth 
out  Shakespeare  on  Sunday.  Emmeline,  come  away 
from  the  bears  ! 

Mr.  N.  Bless  me,  they  came  here  to  see  the  beasts, 
and  they  shall  see  them.  Jump,  Syllabubs.  (Lifts  her 
to  the  rail.)  Here,  Walter,  take  this  fourpenny  bit,  and 
see  how  many  stale  buns  that  young  lady  will  give  you. 

Mrs.  N.  Teaching  your  children  to  break  the 
Sabbath  in  that  manner  ! 

Mr.  N.  I  am  teaching  them  to  break  nothing  except 
buns.  Isn't  a  bear  to  be  fed  on  Sunday,  especially 
when  he  has  fallen  into  a  pit  ?  That's  a  man,  Walter — 
a  bun  a-piece.  Where's  the  stick  ?  Here  we  are. 
Now,  Mr.  Bear,  climb  for  your  lunch  ! 

107 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

Mrs,  N.  I  shall  walk  on  to  the  chairs  on  the  grass. 
I  can  at  least  avoid  witnessing  what  I  disapprove. 

Mr.  N.  All  right,  dear  ;  go  and  stare  at  the  bonnets, 
while  we  finish  our  secular  duties. 

^  (Exit  Mrs.  N.) 

Walter.  Come  on,  Papa,  don't  give  all  the  buns  to 
these  stupid  beasts.  I  want  to  give  something  to  the 
'ippopotamus. 

Mr,  N.  So  you  ought,  in  return  for  the  *'  h " 
youVe  taken  away  from  him. 

(Shout  of  laughter  from  the  children.  Mrs.  N. 
looks  angrily  up  from  the  plateau  below,  and 
Mr.  N.  thinks  it  wisest  to  rejoin  her, 

Emmeline.  O,  Mamma,  what  do  you  think  Papa 
said  ? 

Mrs,  N,  Nothing,  my  love,  which  I  wish  you  to 
repeat.     Walk  on  quietly,  two  and  two. 

Mr,  N,    Too-too-too,  dears,  like  a  penny  trumpet. 
(Another  shout.) 

Mrs.  N.  This  behaviour  is  more  disgraceful,  Henry, 
than  I  could  have  believed  your  conduct  ever  would  be. 
Really,  this  is  not  a  place  for  you.  You  must  suppose 
that  you  are  in  some  low  tea-garden,  among  the  rabble. 

Mr.  N,  No,  my  dear.  These  are  the  gardens  of 
the  Royal  Zoological  Society,  Regent's  Park,  N.W., 
and  I  am  a  fellow,  and  it's  your  fault  if  I  am  not  a  jolly 
fellow.  It's  the  most  enjoyable  place  in  London,  or, 
as  you  would  say,  in  this  extensive  metropolis,  and  I 
came  here  to  enjoy  myself,  and — deducting  conjugali- 
ties— so  I  do.  Go  where  you  like,  children,  but  mind, 
don't  put  your  fingers  between  the  bars  of  a  single  den 
— and  I  say  (solemnly),  mind  this  :  if  one  of  you 
children  gets  eaten,  I'll  never  speak  to  that  child  again. 
(Loud  shout,  and  away  go  the  young  ones.) 

Mrs,  N,     Catch  me  coming  here  again  with  you. 

Mr,  N,     I  didn't  ask  you  to  come. 

108 


"THE  NAGGLETONS" 

Mrs.  N.  No,  I  am  not  accusing  you  of  any  such 
civility. 

Mr,  N.  You  asked  yourself  to  come,  and  I  wish  that 
at  the  same  time  you'd  asked  yourself  whether  you 
couldn't  come  in  a  decent  temper. 

Mrs.  N.  You  are  the  only  person,  I  have  often  said, 
who  ever  dared  to  find  fault  with  my  temper. 

Mr.  N.  Perhaps,  as  I  have  often  answered,  because 
I  am  the  only  person  on  whom  you  ever  dared  to 
try  it. 

Mrs.  N.  (smiling.)  That  speaks  well  for  your  dignity 
as  the  Head  of  the  Family. 

Mr.  N.  It  speaks  better,  perhaps,  for  my  patience, 
which  some  day  you  will  try  too  far. 

Mrs.  N.  It  is  so  manly  to  threaten  a  helpless  woman 
who  is  chained  for  life. 

Mr.  N.  If  she  is,  she  needn't  rattle  her  chains 
incessantly.  But  come,  it  is  Sunday,  and  you  have 
been  to  church,  and  earned  a  right  to  neglect  all  the 
minor  duties,  such  as  kindness  and  politeness.  Won't 
you  take  a  chair  ? 

Mrs.  N.  Not  in  front,  certainly,  that  all  your  set, 
Dick,  Tom,  and  Harry,  may  come  up  and  claim 
acquaintance  with  one. 

Mr.  N.  You  were  glad  enough  to  know  my  set 
once. 

Mrs.  N.     You  thought  so. 

Mr.  N.  You  said  so.  Excuse  me  for  believing  it, 
and  two  or  three  other  things. 

Mrs.  N.  Ah  !  (A  cyclopcBdia  of  useful  knowledge 
in  that  little  noise.) 

(They  take  chairs  behind  the  rail,  and  observe  the 
elegant  company  seated,  passing,  and  repassing.) 

Mr.  N.  If  it  wasn't  Sunday,  I  should  say  ''  My  eye 
what  a  pretty  girl !  " 

Mrs.  N.     Painted  flirt ! 

109 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

Mr.  N.     Lovely  hair,  come. 

Mrs.  N.     Bought — I  hope  paid  for. 

Mr.  N.  She  is  very  Uke  Lady  Annabel  Lee  whom 
you  rave  about. 

Mrs.  N.  I  never  rave  about  anybody,  and  that 
person  is  as  like  Lady  Annabel  as  I  am  Hke  your 
grandmother. 

Mr.  N.  (brutally.)    H'm  ! 

Mrs.  N.  (disdaining  to  notice  such  atrocious  coarseness.) 
I  wonder  who  that  distinguished-looking  man  is  ? 
You  never  know  anybody,  so  it's  no  use  asking 
you. 

Mr.  N.     I  know  in  this  case. 

Mrs.  N.  Pardon  me  if  I  don't  believe  it.  He  is 
evidently  somebody.  His  dress  and  manner  are  those 
of  the  best  society. 

Mr.  N.     How  should  you  know  ? 

Mrs.  N.  I  may  be  unfortunately  circumstanced  as 
regards  my  own  position,  but  I  have  a  lady's  instinct, 
which  never  leads  me  astray  in  forming  a  judgment. 

Mr.  N.     Well,  it  is  right  enough  this  time. 

Mrs.  N.  Of  course  it  is.  Whom  do  you  suppose 
that  gentleman  to  be  ? 

Mr.  N.  I  don't  suppose  about  it.  (Calls  out  to  the 
Distinguished  Somebody,  ''  How  are  you,  Blobby  ?  ") 
(The  Distinguished  Somebody  looks  round,  and 
Mrs.  Naggleton  turns  red  with  shame  and 
anger.  But  the  Distinguished  Somebody  comes 
up  to  the  rail,  and  shakes  hands  with  Mr. 
Naggleton.) 

D.  S.     Hawful  'ot,  ain't  it,  my  boy  ? 

Mr.  N.  Stunning  !  I  have  the  superior  honour  of 
introducing  you  to  my  wife.  Mr.  Blobbings — Mrs. 
Naggleton.  (She  shudders  a  fraction  of  a  bow.)  And 
how's  tallow  ? 

D.  S.     Sputtery,  sputtery.     But  sink  the  shop  on 

110 


DINES   AT   "PUNCH"   TABLE 

Sunday,  my  bricksy-wicksy  !     Be  genteel,  my  boy, 
if  the  house  is  a-fire.     Splendid  day,  M'm. 

Mrs.  N.  (faintly.)  Very  fine.  Where  are  those 
children  ? 

(Walks  off  J  and  is  shortly  afterwards  overtaken 
by  the  faithful  Mr.  Naggleton.) 

That  is  a  fair  example  of  these  thirty-three  conversa- 
tions, at  the  close  of  which  Mrs.  Naggleton' s  aunt, 
Henrietta  Flaggerty,  dies  and  leaves  the  unhappy 
couple  twenty  thousand  pounds  on  condition  ''  that 
they  entirely  and  for  ever  abandon  their  habit  of 
scolding,  snarling,  and  sneering,  and  study  to  converse 
poHtely,  if  not  affectionately  .  .  .  and  immediately 
discard  the  name  of  Naggleton,  and  for  ever  hereafter 
bear  the  name  of — Lovey-Dovey.*'  The  conditions 
are  accepted,  and  "  so  ends  the  History  of  the  Naggle- 
tons,''  the  author  promising  that  the  public  shall  one 
day  have  a  peep  at  the  Lovey-Doveys,  a  promise 
destined  never  to  be  fulfilled. 

Despite  many  statements  to  the  contrary,  Shirley 
did  not  become  a  member  of  the  Punch  staff  until 
May,  1852,  on  the  18th  day  of  which  month  he  dined 
for  the  first  time  at  the  Table,  ''  *  the  famous  board  of 
which  we  all  have  heard  .  .  .  but  very  few  of  us  seen 
...  a  rather  primitive  piece  of  joinery  .  .  .  (pace 
Thackeray's  '  Mahogany  Tree  ')  •  •  •  t)ut  with  associa- 
tions which  render  it  a  treasure  among  treasures,  a  rich 
and  priceless  gem.  For  at  this  table  nearly  every 
man  upon  the  Staff  has,  from  the  day  it  was  made,  sat, 
and  carved  his  initials  upon  it  with  a  penknife,  when 

*  Spielmann's  **  History  of  Punch  et  passim." 

Ill 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

officially  elevated  to  Punch's  peerage.  As  each  has 
died,  his  successor  has  taken  his  place — just  as  the 
Institut  de  France  creates  Immortals  to  fill  the  chairs 
made  vacant  by  death — and  has  cut  his  initials  or  his 
mark  close  by  those  of  the  men  who  occupied  the  place 
before  him.  .  .  ." 


112 


CHAPTER  VII 

The  Punch  Table  (cont.) — The  "  Essence  of  Parhament." 


OR  the  following  picture 
of  Shirley  at  the  Punch 
Table  I  am  indebted,  as 
for  much  else,  to  my 
friend,  Mr.  Henry  Silver. 

''  It  was,"  he  writes, 
'*  early  in  the  '  fifties ' 
when  I  first  met  Shirley 
Brooks,  and  for  more 
than  twenty  years  I 
had  the  pleasure  of  his 
friendship.  We  dined 
together  well  nigh  weekly  at  the  Punch  Table,  and 
we  used  frequently  to  meet  elsewhere,  both  in  and 
out  of  Clubland.  His  voice  was  ever  gay  and  cheerful, 
'  an  excellent  thing  in  woman,'  and  in  men  not  less  so — 
especially  at  dinner-time.  And  when  by  any  chance 
some  *  brilliant  flash  of  silence '  had  fallen  on  the 
company,  he  was  generally  the  first  to  say  a  pleasant 
word  or  two  that  started  a  fresh  subject. 

''  It  was  in  the  spring  of  1852,  while  '  Miss  Violet ' 
was  describing  her  delightful  little  '  Offers,'  that  I  met 
for  the  first  time  the  author  of  her  being.  Our  inter- 
view took  place  not  far  from  Temple  Bar,  which 
blocked  the  end  of  Fleet  Street,  and  had  not  yet  been 
supplanted  by  the  prancing  civic  Griffin.     In  a  dingy 

113 

9— (2297) 


SHIRLEY   BROOKS 

little  room  there,  and  a  copious  armchair,  sat  enthroned 
our  massive  Editor  (Mark  Lemon),  whose  beaming 
smile  enlightened  the  dismal  audience  chamber.  Upon 
his  cheery  introduction,  Shirley  honoured  me  at  sight, 
as  a  banker  does  '  good  paper,'  and  we  heartily  shook 
hands  as  though  for  years  we  had  been  intimate. 
'  You'll  pull  in  the  same  boat,'  said  Mark,  '  and  I  hope 
you'll  pull  together ' ;  and  then,  as  I  had  still  some 
youthful  modesty  left  in  me,  I  might  fitly  have 
invented  Douglas  Jerrold's  famous  joke  about  the 
'  very  different  skulls ' — if  it  had  happily  occurred 
to  me. 

"  There  is  hanging  in  my  drawing-room,  among  a 
dozen  of  delightful  pencil  drawings  by  John  Tenniel, 
a  tiny,  upright,  full-length  figure,  which  by  way  of 
emphasis  he  drew  in  water  colours.  This  is  an 
imaginary  portrait  of  our  good  friend  Mr.  Punch,  and 
is  contained  within  a  circle  of  two  inches  and  a  half  in 
diameter.  Around  the  famous  little  personage,  and 
branching  from  the  circle  like  the  fingers  of  a  star-fish, 
are  the  signatures  of  those  who  weekly  used  to  dine 
with  him.  Underneath  the  drawing  is  pencilled  the 
inscription,  *  Mr.  Punch  and  his  Privy  Council.  Anno 
Domini  1858 ;  Anno  Punchii  XVIII.'  At  the  head 
of  the  Table  sat  the  chief  proprietor,  and  then  proceed- 
ing in  due  sequence  from  his  left  hand  to  his  right,  the 
following  were  the  names  and  usual  places  of  the 
guests  :  William  Bradbury,  Tom  Taylor,  John  Leech, 
John  Tenniel,  Mark  Lemon,  Frederick  M.  Evans, 
Percival  Leigh,  C.  Shirley  Brooks,  Henry  Silver, 
W.  M.  Thackeray.  Such  in  the  later  '  fifties '  was 
the  usual  order  of  the  Table  from  the  death  of  Douglas 
Jerrold  in  June,  *  fifty-seven,'  to  the  coming  of  Charles 
Keene  in  February,  1860. 

'*  Five  o'clock  tea  was  not  invented  in  the  '  fifties.' 
Society  had  not  discovered  how  dulce  est  tea-sipere  in 

114 


THE   "BIG  CUT" 

loco — in  the  place  of  early  dining.  So  the  dinner  hour 
was  six^  and  Shirley  always  was  a  punctual  comer, 
though  he  worked  harder  than  most  of  us.  But  one 
may  often  notice  that  the  guests  who  come  the  latest 
are  generally  those  who  have  the  least  to  do.  Dining 
a  la  Russe  was  hardly  known  in  London  half-a-century 
ago,  and  Mr.  Punch  was  an  old-fashioned  and  most 
hospitable  host,  and,  as  the  phrase  went, '  liked  to  see 
his  dinner  '  before  eating  it.  So  the  joints  were  carved 
at  table  by  those  who  sat  at  head  and  tail  of  it ;  or  in 
their  absence  by  the  Editor,  or  some  other  of  the 
guests.  Shirley  always  shirked  the  labour  of  the  carv- 
ing knife,  although  he  never  shrank  from  the  work  of 
the  '*  Big  Cut.''  Indeed,  the  only  carving  that  he  did 
at  the  Punch  Table  was  when  he  carved  his  own  initials 
on  it,  as  did  all  the  rest  of  us,  clumsy-fingered  though 
we  were  (excepting,  indeed,  Thackeray,  whose  wood- 
carving,  like  his  writing,  was  extremely  neat).  At 
dinner  Shirley  far  preferred  to  cut  a  joke  than  carve  a 
joint,  and  among  the  '  good  things '  that  were  served 
or  said  at  table,  he  had  especial  relish  for  good  stories 
or  hon  mots,  which  he  was  always  ready  to  relate  or 
to  invent. 

''  I  kept  a  diary  in  those  days,  as  many  scribblers 
do,  before  they  cut  their  wisdom  teeth  and  learn  that 
time  is  precious  stuff  and  journals  precious  nonsense. 
Therein  I  used  to  chronicle  the  talk  of  the  Round 
Table,  and  the  names  of  the  good  knights  who  weekly 
sat  at  meat.  I  specially  recorded,  too,  the  birth  of 
the  Cartoon,  and  any  special  circumstance  attending 
that  notable  event.  The  honour  of  the  parentage 
might  in  general  be  claimed  by  either  Shirley  or  Tom 
Taylor,  but  the  Editor  not  seldom  was  the  proud  and 
happy  father,  or  else  our  Hampshire  poet  and  '  Pro- 
fessor,' Percival  Leigh.  Leech,  who  in  the  '  fifties ' 
drew  most  of  the  Cartoons,  cared  little  about  politics, 

115 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

and  his  voice  was  seldom  heard  in  the  debate.  But  he 
would  sometimes  end  it  suddenly,  by  declaring  that  he 
couldn't  '  see '  the  subject  as  suggested,  and  then  his 
quick  fancy  would  forthwith  invent  a  better.'' 

It  was,  of  course,  only  by  gradual  degrees  that 
Shirley  arrived  at  his  recognised  position  as  suggester- 
in-chief,  and  even  then  more  must  not  be  claimed  for 
him  than  was  his  due.  The  suggestion  might  come 
from  him  but  the  final  decision  rested  with  Mark  Lemon 
and  the  rest  of  Mr.  Punch's  Cabinet  Council.  True, 
Shirley,  immersed  in  literature,  never  really  quit  of  his 
reading,  ''  the  sayer  of  good  things  you  thought  over," 
provided  the  literary  backbone  which  was  lacking  in 
his  chief.  For  Mark  Lemon,  clever  as  he  was,  had  not 
the  cultured  mind,  the  finer  taste,  of  his  lieutenant. 
His  were  the  higher  animal  spirits,  Shirley's  the  keener 
tongue.  He  was  chiefly  the  man  of  the  world,  Shirley 
chiefly  the  man  of  letters.  But  both  were  equally 
devoted  to  the  cause  of  Punch,  the  quahties  of  the  one 
supplementing  in  his  service  the  quahties  of  the  other. 
If  Mark  fully  weighed  every  suggestion  made  by  his 
lieutenant,  Shirley  as  loyally  abided  by  the  decision 
of  his  chief,  for  whose  policy  and  conduct  of  the  paper 
he  had  the  greatest  admiration.  This  he  proved  when 
the  time  came  for  him  to  hold  the  reins  in  his  own 
hands.  '*  No  editor,"  writes  Mr.  Spielmann,  *'  ever 
laid  himself  out  more  carefully  to  follow  in  his  pre- 
decessor's footsteps.  .  .  .  During  the  Franco-German 
war  Shirley  Brooks  astonished  some  of  his  confreres 
by  rejecting  a  cartoon  suggested  at  the  weekly  dinner, 
because  he  felt  sure  that,  despite  its  cleverness,  '  Uncle 

116 


SUGGESTER-IN-CHIEF 

Mark  would  not  have  accepted  it '  ;  for  '  Uncle  Mark  * 
was  peculiarly  sensitive  in  his  respect  for  religious 
prejudice  and  sentiment,  except  when  discussing 
Roman  CathoHcism  or  Jesuitry.  The  cartoon  in 
question  was  to  have  depicted  King  William  writing 
home  to  his  wife  one  of  those  pious  epistles  which  gave 
such  an  air  of  earnestness  to  his  work  :  '  We  have 
victoriously  broken  through  another  treaty,  by  the 
help  of  God.'  Mark  Lemon  had  an  exaggerated  view 
of  the  responsibility  of  his  position,  and  Shirley  Brooks 
conducted  the  paper  rigidly  on  the  old  lines.*' 

Indeed,  despite  obvious  differences,  there  was  much 
in  common  between  Mark  Lemon  and  Shirley.  As 
Jerrold  wrote  :  ''  Both  were  men  of  the  old-fashioned, 
courteous  address.  In  their  denials  they  appeared  to 
be  conferring  a  favour.  To  the  humble  they  were 
gentle  ;  and  they  had  their  reward  in  the  zeal  with 
which  all  people  .  .  .  pressed  to  serve  them.'' 

In  speaking  of  Shirley  as  the  chief  suggester  of 
cartoons,  care,  of  course,  must  be  taken  not  to  ignore 
the  great  part  played  by  the  artists  who  carried  out 
these  suggestions  with  such  conspicuous  abihty.  But 
the  cartoonists  of  this  period  were  not,  I  believe,  very 
strong  politicians.  They  were  great  chic  artists,  who 
loyally  devoted  their  powerful  pencils  to  the  pictorial 
expression  of  the  opinions  of  those  who  were  responsible 
for  the  conduct  of  the  paper. 

And  if  Shirley  justified  his  existence  at  the  Punch 
Table  by  making,  and  getting  adopted,  nine  out  of 
every  ten  of  the  suggestions  for  the  "  Big  Cut,"  what 
must  be  said  of  the  part  played  by  him  in  what  has 

117 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

now  been  for  fifty  years  the  backbone  of  Punch's 
political  influence  ?  '*  I  have  seen  it  stated/'  wrote 
Sketchley,  ''  that  in  an  illness  of  Shirley  Brooks,  I  did 
some  of  the  '  Essence  of  Parhament/  If  I  had  been 
called  on  to  take  up  the  pen  of  that  most  brilHant  man 
of  letters,  I  should  have  been  in  despair/'  And  that 
must,  I  think,  be  the  feeling  of  everyone  who  has  taken 
the  trouble  to  peruse  these  remarkable  productions,  of 
which  Shirley  was  the  inventor,  and  which  he  carried 
on  during  the  sittings  of  ParHament  with  never-failing 
vigour  and  brilliancy,  for  nearly  twenty  years.  In- 
valuable to  the  historian,  they  are  no  less  delightful  to 
the  general  reader. 

For  this  work  his  training  in  the  Reporters'  Gallery 
of  the  House  of  Commons  proved  of  inestimable  value. 
He  knew  the  men.  He  knew  the  measures.  He  had 
the  advantage  of  a  retrospective  acquaintanceship  with 
the  ever-recurring  subjects  of  debate.  As  a  looker-on 
at  the  game  he  was  like  one  of  the  gods  of  Olympus, 
not  only  knowing  what  had  happened  in  the  past,  but 
able  to  forecast  what  was  likely  to  happen  in  the  future. 
In  his  detachment  he  could  take  the  larger  view  of 
things.  Like  the  Deity  of  Hugo  von  Trimberg,  who 
from  high  heaven  must  needs  laugh  outright  to  see  the 
''  wondrous  mannikins  here  below,"  he,  in  the  remote- 
ness of  the  Gallery,  above  the  storms  and  passions 
disturbing  men's  minds,  could  impartially  consider  the 
advances  and  retreats  of  the  mannikins  on  the  floor, 
and  distil  the  essence  of  their  talk  in  the  alembic  of  his 
wit.  It  is  here  that  we  find  Shirley  Brooks,  the  writer, 
at  his  best.     Here  he  could  give  freest  rein  to  his 

118 


'' ESSENCE  OF  PARLIAMENT'* 

convictions  and  fancies.  Now  he  is  weighty,  now 
trivial ;  now  severely  matter-of-fact,  the  next  moment 
subtle  and  allusive  ;  approving  here,  sarcastic  there  ; 
soothing  this  one's  ruffled  temper,  thrusting  his  rapier 
shrewdly  into  that  one's  self-complacency  ;  with  a 
laugh  excusing  an  honest  man's  stumble^  with  a  gibe 
minimising  a  dishonest  man's  triumph. 

And  how  well  he  was  seconded  as  time  went  on  by 
the  pencils  of  (Sir)  John  Tenniel,  Charles  Bennett,  and 
Mr.  Linley  Sambourne,  whose  wonderful  initial  letters, 
sometimes  expanding  themselves  over  half  the  page, 
caught  the  very  spirit  of  his  writing,  and  were  in  their 
very  excellence  another  proof  of  the  inspiring  influence 
of  his  pen  I  ''  Miracles  of  invention,  of  fancy,  and  of 
allusion,  swarming  with  figures,  overflowing  with 
suggestion,  teeming  with  subtle  symbolism,"  as  Mr. 
Spielmann  has  said,  they  are  the  highest  testimonial, 
the  sincerest  form  of  flattery  for  which  a  man  could 
hunger.* 

The  first  instalment  of  ''  The  Essence  "  opened  the 
twenty-eighth  volume  of  Punch  thus  : — 

*' Tuesday,  Dec.  12th  (1854).  Parliament  met. 
Her  Majesty  delivered  very  gracefully  a  speech  which 
Lord  Aberdeen  had  written  very  ungrammatically." 
It  concluded  :  ''  Various  legislative  formalities  having 
been  transacted  in  both  Houses,  the  Parliamentary 
nuisance  was  abated  till  the  23rd  January." 

Those  two  sentences  at  once  struck  the  notes  of 
loyalty    to    the    gracious   Lady   on   the   Throne,    of 

*  Some  of  these  have  been,  by  the  kindness  of  Messrs.  Bradbury 
and  Agnew,  allowed  to  adorn  these  pages. 

119 


SHIRLEY   BROOKS 

independent  and  humorous  criticism  of  the  great, 
and  of  a  sort  of  lofty  detachment,  which  were  to 
characterise  the  series  from  beginning  to  end. 

In  the  very  next  instalment  I  find  with  some  elation 
that  ''  Layard  gave  it  to  ministers  right  and  left,'' 
and  that  ''  it  would  be  egotism  in  Mr.  Punch  did  he 
applaud  sentiments  which  Mr.  Layard  must  have 
studied  in  their  best  form  in  the  pages  of  his  immortal 
work,  but  Mr.  Punch  has  no  objection  to  say  that  the 
earnest  eloquence  of  the  member  for  Nineveh  did 
justice  to  his  theme.'* 

Fortunately,  my  distinguished  kinsman  was  a  great 
favourite  with  Punch,  who  admired  his  independence, 
and  recognised  in  him  one  of  the  few  politicians  to 
whom  office  was  the  last  consideration.  Indeed,  so 
impressed  was  he  with  his  straightforwardness  and 
untiring  energy  that  a  full-page  cartoon  was  soon 
afterwards  devoted  to  ''  The  Member  for  Nineveh 
digging  out  the  British  Bull "  from  the  slough,  into 
which  years  of  routine,  jobbery,  patronage,  incom- 
petency, muddle  and  red-tape  had  plunged  him.  And 
when,  a  few  weeks  later,  the  impetuous  young  man 
chanced  to  make  a  slip  on  a  point  of  fact  in  his  eager 
zeal  to  strip  the  mask  from  jobbery,  and  all  the  wolves, 
jackals  and  poodle-dogs  of  State  were  yelping  at  his 
heels.  Punch  came  to  the  rescue  with  the  fine  cartoon, 
''  Baiting  the  Nineveh  Bull "  :— 

"  Ended  the  match  was,  though  never  a  scratch  was 
To  see  on  the  bull  at  the  close  of  the  fray : 
Cads  with  huzzaing  spent,  curs  hoarse  with  baying,  went 
Clubwards  and  kennelwards,  glorious,  away. 
120 


'*  ESSENCE   OF  PARLIAMENT" 

But,  though  their  pack,  Sir,  the  Commons  may  back,  Sir, 
Though  of  his  clap-traps  and  jokes  Pam  be  full, 
Public  opinion  asserts  its  dominion. 

Giving  its  voice  for  the  Nineveh  Bull." 

I  mention  this  in  which  I  am  naturally  interested, 
because  here  we  have  a  typical  example  of  Punch's 
independence,  and  further,  what  is  directly  germane 
to  our  subject,  one  of  the  earliest  examples  of  the  in- 
fluence which  Shirley,  the  latest  recruit,  was  exercising 
on  Punch's  councils.  He  sows  the  seed  in  *'  The  Essence 
of  Parliament,"  and  almost  immediately  it  blossoms 
out  into  the  highest  pictorial  compliment  which  can 
be  paid  in  this  country  to  an  unofiicial  Member  of 
Parliament.  And  so  his  influence  continued  to  make 
itself  felt  through  these  delightful  contributions,  until 
in  the  last  year  of  his  life  he  wrote,  with  some  weariness 
yet  with  not  unnatural  self-congratulation  : — 

"  Again  began  '  Essence  of  Parliament.'  How  this 
has  lasted,  and  everybody  tells  me  it  is  a  most  valuable 
feature  in  P.      It  is  often  a  great  bore,  but  not  always." 

It  is  impossible  in  this  place  to  make  more  than 
passing  allusion  to  what  was  neither  more  nor  less 
than  a  complete  history  of  Parliament,  as  set  down 
week  by  week  for  twenty  years  by  a  man  exceptionally 
equipped  for  his  task,  ideally  situated  for  its  perform- 
ance, and  abundantly  familiar  with  the  customs, 
procedure  and  idiosyncrasies  of  his  subject. 

*'  They  were  sad  times  for  Merry  England  when  the 
*  Essence '  was  begun,"  writes  Mr.  Silver  to  me. 
"  Holy  Russia  had  cried  '  Havoc  '  and  let  slip  the  dogs 
of  war,  and  the  British  Bull-dog  had  been  making  a  bad 
start.     Someone   had  blundered  as   someone  always 

121 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

will,  and  the  nation's  wrath  was  kindled  against  an 
ill-starred  Government.  Aided  by  the  Times ^  Mr, 
Punch  attacked  the  Ministry,  and  not  many  weeks 
elapsed  before  *  the  People's  Premier  '  succeeded  to  the 
place  of  '  Antiquated  Imbecility/  as  '  Pam  '  with  tender 
flattery  had  called  Lord  Aberdeen. 

"  Tempora  mutantur.  Both  the  Times  and  Punch 
are  somewhat  changed  since  then,  and  possibly  their 
influence  is  now  less  strongly  felt.  In  these  hurry- 
scurry  days  people  seldom  stop  to  think.  They  prefer 
light,  trivial  chatter  to  words  of  gravity  or  weight. 
Whatever  '  views  '  they  chance  to  have  upon  a  subject 
are  mostly  mere  *  snapshots.*  Wise  in  his  generation, 
Mr.  Punch  goes  with  the  times,  and  his  wisdom  is 
well-known  to  be  unfailing,  like  his  wit.  In  his 
*  Essence '  now  he  pays  less  heed  to  the  speeches  than 
the  speakers.  What  they  say  is  noticed  not  so  much 
as  what  they  wear  and  how  they  look.  There  is 
indeed  less  record  of  the  matter  than  the  manner  of 
debate.  But  though  its  style  may  have  been  altered, 
the  *  Essence  '  still  exists.  It  has  been  yearly  carried 
on  for  more  than  half-a-century,  and  may  well  survive 
for  a  century  or  two  further ;  unless  indeed  the 
Heptarchy  return,  by  a  decree  of  Little  Englanders 
(haply  born  in  civic  Little  Britain),  when  the  British 
Parliament  may  be  proclaimed  to  be  extinct. 

"  Readers  often  fancy  it  is  quite  easy  to  be  writers  : 
and  it  may  seem  a  little  matter  to  condense  a  lot  of 
talk.  But  to  write  the  *  Essence '  in  the  style  that 
Shirley  started  was  not  so  Hght  a  labour  as  may  be 
supposed.  Crede  experto.  At  times  I  was  his  deputy, 
and  found  it  was  by  no  means  an  enviable  post.*     To 

*  The  following  quotation  from  an  unpublished  letter  written 
by  Shirley  to  Percival  Leigh  in  Aug.,  1860,  refers  to  one  of  these 
occasions.     "  Argentum  "  was  one  of  Mr.  Silver's  nicknames. 

**  About  the  *  Essence,'  I  assure  you  that  no  such  idea  as  you 

122 


*' ESSENCE  OF  PARLIAMENT'* 

stew  down  half-a-score  or  more  of  pages  in  the  Times 
and  serve  them  up  with  jest-sauce  in  a  single  page  of 
Punch  ;  to  give  by  way  of  garnish  a  bon  mot  from  the 
Lobby  ;  to  report  with  due  veracity  (and  perhaps 
curtailed  verbosity)  a  sentence  worth  recording ;  and 
to  add  some  apt  quotations  to  enliven  dull  debates  ; 
all  this  was  Shirley's  work  when  Parliament  was 
sitting,  and  it  was  done  so  cheerily  and  with  such 
surprising  skill,  that  few  readers  could  be  conscious 
of  the  labour  it  had  cost  him,  or  the  cleverness  it 
required. 

"  In  these  days  of  '  snappy  pars,'  of  semi- Yankee 
'  journalese,'  Shirley's  pure,  well-chosen  English  may 
seem  rather  out  of  date.  But  I  think  it  may  be  fairly 
cited  as  a  model  of  good  writing  for  the  Press.  Though 
chiefly  done  at  a  hand-gallop,  it  showed  no  sign  of 
haste.  There  was  neither  faulty  grammar,  nor 
slovenly  neglect  of  style.  Plain  simple  words  were 
chosen  to  express  clear,  earnest  thoughts  ;  and  a  screen 
of  showy  adjectives  was  never  used  to  hide  a  want  of 
sterHng  knowledge,  or  of  sound  substantial  sense." 

That  is  interesting  as  the  opinion  of  one  who  was, 
as  little  more  than  a  boy,  writing  for  Punch  ere  ever 
Shirley  Brooks  had  stormed  the  position,  and  who 
now,  perhaps  with  natural  prejudice  in  favour  of  the 
past,  surveys  the  arena  of  his  early  triumphs  without 
intolerance  and  with  the  wisdom  that  comes  of  ripe 
experience. 

allude  to  ever  entered  this  child's  head.  Moreover,  there  was  a 
special  reason  why  Argentum  should  do  it,  namely,  that  he  is 
remunerated  by  the  work,  not  by  salary,  and  one  is  only  too  glad 
to  throw  anything  to  so  good  a  fellow.  Besides,  when  did  I  ever 
misunderstand  you  ?  " 

123 


CHAPTER  VIII 

1852-1854— "A  Story  with  a  Vengeance— "  Aspen  Court  "- 
Bentley's  Miscellany — Marriage  with  Miss  Emily  Walkinshaw- 
Clubs — Birth  of  his  Sons  and  their  Fate. 


ORTUNE  was  now  smiling  upon 
Shirley.  His  income  derived 
from  the  Morning  Chronicle, 
the  Illustrated  London  News, 
the  Era,  and  Punch,  to  men- 
tion the  important  few  of  the 
many  irons  which  he  now  had 
in  the  fire,  was  assuming  con- 
siderable dimensions,  and  his 
reputation  in  the  world  of 
letters  was  proportionately  increasing.  His  serial  in 
Punch,  ''  Miss  Violet  and  her  Offers/'  of  which  the 
authorship  was  not  long  a  secret,  suggested  at  least 
to  one  prominent  publisher  that  here  was  possibly  a 
valuable  recruit  to  the  ranks  of  novelists,  not  so  over- 
crowded a  regiment  then  as  it  is  at  this  present  writing. 
Up  to  the  year  1852  Shirley's  name  had  but  once 
been  publicly  identified  with  anything  in  the  shape  of 
fiction,  and  then  only  with  the  unimportant  **  Story 
with  a  Vengeance,''  in  which  he  had  been  associatedj 
with  his  friend  Angus  Reach.  Of  so  little  account, 
indeed,  is  this  volume,  that  it  would  call  for  no  further 
mention  were  it  not  that,  by  a  curious  chance  I  have 

124 


"A  STORY  WITH  A  VENGEANCE '* 

discovered  at  what  rate  the  young  authors  were  paid 
for  a  work  of  imagination  running  to  a  hundred  and 
twenty-six  pretty  closely  printed  pages,  and  in  the 
event  found  worthy  of  several  new  editions.  Turning 
over  the  pages  of  a  presentation  copy  of  Shirley's  first 
three-volumed  novel,  kindly  lent  me  by  Mr.  Downing, 
the  well-known  Birmingham  bookseller,  I  found  pasted 
inside  the  cover  of  the  third  volume  the  following  in 
Shirley's  handwriting  addressed  to  Horace  May  hew  : — 

*'  Horatius  Flaccus 
(The  lover  of  Bacchus, 
And  maker  of  mots,  often  dirty). 
The  £ — s.  and  d. 
Paid  to  Angus  and  me 
Was  pounds  to  the  number  of  Thirty. 

****** 

That  is,  you  know,  ;fl5  each,  but  this  was  considered 
a  high  price  (which  I  will  be  hanged  if  it  was),  and 
given  for  a  reason  disconnected  with  the  vast  merits 
of  the  work.  I  don't  know  that  the  matter  is  anything 
which  is  desired  to  be  secret,  but  still  perhaps  you  will 
be  good  enough  to  keep  the  information  as  a  guide  to 
yourself,  and  not  to  mention  it  at  Ingram's,  as  we  may 
have  other  transactions  there,  and  publishers  like 
mystery — Verbum  Sat. 

'*  Semper  tuus 

''  S.  B.  of  Egypt.'* 

At  first  sight  this  would  seem  to  have  no  necessary 
connection  with  ''  A  Story  with  a  Vengeance,"  which 
has  no  pubUsher's  name  on  the  title-page  of  the  first 
edition,  and  is  merely  described  as  **  pubHshed  at  227 
Strand/'     When,  however,  we  remember  that  that  was 

125 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

the  publishing  address  of  Ingram,  Cooke  &  Co.,  and 
that  this  was  the  only  book  collaborated  in  by  Shirley 
and  Angus,  the  train  of  reasoning  is  complete,  and 
we  feel  for  the  moment  the  true  triumph  of  the  biblio- 
maniac. Nor  do  we  only  thus  learn  chancewise  the 
kind  of  prices  that  Shirley  was  receiving  in  his  thirty- 
seventh  year,  but  also  that  he  considered  the  price 
very  inadequate,  as  indeed  it  would  appear  to  be. 

But  the  young  author  must  at  first  take  what  he 
can  get,  and  possess  his  soul  in  patience  for  the  time 
when  he  has  gained  reputation  enough  to  speak  with 
his  enemy,  the  publisher,  in  the  gate,  and  Shirley's 
moment  of  triumph  was  not  long  in  coming.  Before 
the  year  was  out  one  of  the  greatest  of  editor-publishers 
was  knocking  at  his  door. 
.  Bentley's  Miscellany  was  now  in  the  heyday  of  its 
/  great  career,  and  Richard  Bentley  was  on  the  look-out 
for  a  hkely  serial  writer.  ''  Miss  Violet  and  her  Offers '' 
was  attracting  much  attention  in  the  pages  of  Punchy 
and  Bentley  knew  what  was  good  when  he  saw  it. 
Its  authorship  leaked  out,  and  the  publisher  made 
a  flattering  offer  to  the  newest  of  Punch's  recruits. 
So  it  came  about  that  Shirley  Brooks  made  his  bow 
as  a  serious  novelist  in  the  pages  of  the  great  Miscellany 
which  had  built  up  its  reputation  on  the  names  of 
Charles  Dickens,  William  Harrison  Ainsworth,  and 
others  of  the  mid- Victorian  brotherhood. 

Dedicated  to  Charles  Dickens  when  eventually  it 

II     was  published  in  book  form,  '*  Aspen  Court"  is  not 

without  signs  of  the  Master's  influence.    Written  for 

serial  issue,  it  has  the  weaknesses  that  of  necessity 

126 


AS  NOVELIST 

appertain  to  that  method  of  publication.  It  suffers 
from  the  spasms,  a  distressing  disease  not  so  much 
because  of  its  violent  nature  as  because  of  the  inevitable 
periodicity  of  the  attacks.  Life  has  to  unfold  itself 
in  twenty  passionate  acts.  An  interval  of  so  many 
pages  and  the  thrill  is  imperative.  The  thunder-clap 
comes  just  when  you  most  expect  it.  There  is  plenty 
of  story,  plenty  of  incident,  plenty  of  observation, 
plenty  about  the  characters.  But  the  observation  is 
observation  in  snippets^  and  the  characters  never 
develop.  Now  and  then  a  good  scene  presents  itself ; 
the  conversation  proceeds  leisurely  and  effectively.  It 
even  works  up  to  a  legitimate  thrill ;  but  the  time  is  not 
yet ;  it  is  allowed  to  flicker  out  because  the  reader 
must  be  kept  in  suspense  lest  he  should  not  buy  the 
next  number.  And  yet  there  is  abundant  evidence 
that  Shirley  had  it  in  him  to  write  a  good  novel. 

The  fault,  of  course,  was  with  the  system.  The 
pubHsher  required  the  writer  to  work  with  one  eye  on 
the  clock.  And,  like  the  clock,  his  work  must  always 
strike  at  the  hour.  That  no  doubt  was  necessary  to 
the  production  of  a  good  serial.  It  was  fatal  to  the 
production  of  a  good  novel.  And  as  we  read  '*  Aspen 
Court  '*  now  we  scarcely  care  who  wins  or  who  loses. 
Further,  I  doubt  very  much  whether  Shirley  himself 
ever  took  the  fate  of  the  characters  in  his  novels  very 
seriously.  Indeed,  Mr.  Silver  has  record  of  a  con- 
versation between  him  and  Horace  Mayhew  which 
points  directly  to  the  contrary  : — 

'*  Once,'*  said  Shirley,  ''  I  began  a  tale  of  mystery 
for  a  monthly  magazine  and  made  '  on  horror's  head 

127 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

horrors  accumulate/  At  the  close  of  the  fifth  chapter, 
things  came  to  a  dead  lock.  (No,  Horace,  it  had  not 
a  skeleton  key.)  And  things  grew  so  mysterious  that 
I  could  make  neither  head  nor  tail  (tale)  of  them.  So 
I  stopped  suddenly  and  wrote  '  To  be  continued  in  our 
next.'     But  I  never  found  the  courage  to  complete  it.'' 

There  are  no  doubt  some  adventitious  interests 
attaching  to  *'  Aspen  Court."  We  have  seen  Shirley 
in  ''  The  Gordian  Knot  "  enshrining  the  portrait  of  his 
uncle,  Charles  Sabine.  So,  here,  the  London  magistrate 
is  a  portrait  of  his  friend  Gilbert  Abbott  a  Beckett. 

Again  on  page  116,  Vol.  I,  we  find  mention  of 
certain  ''  fast  "  young  ladies  '*  who  have  had  staircase 
flirtations  .  .  .  have  taken  a  good  deal  of  champagne, 
and  have  had  'letters  left  at  the  pastry  cook's,' " 
the  last  words  referring,  of  course,  to  Horace 
Mayhew's  still  readable  papers  which  appeared 
under  that  title  in  Punch.  And  there  are  other  ex- 
trinsic matters  which  amuse  us  who  have  made 
ourselves  familiar  with  literary  affairs  of  the  period. 
But,  as  a  novel,  its  day  is  over.  Popular  enough  to 
be  republished  as  late  as  1868,  it  can  now  have  no 
further  hope  of  resurrection. 

And  what  is  true  of  ''  Aspen  Court  "  equally  appHes, 
as  we  shall  see,  with  one  exception,  to  the  novels  that 
came  after,  notwithstanding  the  weighty  dictum  of 
the  ''  Encyclopaedia  Britannica  "  that  ''  they  possess 
quaUties  which  will  save  them  from  swift  obHvion." 
Which,  by  the  way,  is  just  the  sort  of  prophesy  an 
encyclopaedia  ought  not  to  make.  It  necessitates 
reconsideration  and  a  new  edition  so  quickly  ! 

128 


MARRIAGE 

This  new  departure  was  a  matter  of  considerable 
importance  in  Shirley's  career.  Hitherto  his  name  had 
been  only  one  to  conjure  with  in  editors'  offices  and  in 
purely  literary  circles.  Now  it  was  to  become  familiar 
to  the  reading  public.  Hitherto  he  had  been  paid 
the  price  per  line  or  per  thousand  that  his  work  was 
worth  in  the  market.  Henceforth  something  extra 
would  have  to  be  paid  for  the  use  of  his  name. 

And  this  was  not  the  only  result  of  his  access  of 
fame  and  fortune.  He  was  now  thirty-eight  years  of 
age,  and  he  was  for  the  first  time  in  a  position  to  marry. 
A  Spanish  proverb  tells  us  that  a  bachelor  is  a  peacock  ; 
betrothed  he  is  a  lion  ;  wedded  he  is  an  ass.  If  this 
be  true  then  we  must  date  Shirley's  metempsychosis 
from  the  bird  of  gay  plumage  to  the  King  of  the  Forest 
on  June  1st,  1853,  for  on  that  day  he  proposed  for 
the  hand  of  Miss  Emily  Margaret  Walkinshaw,  and  was  f 
accepted.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Dr.  William 
Bannatyne  Walkinshaw,  of  Naparima,  Trinidad.  ' 
Brunette  to  her  sister's  blonde,  the  two  pretty  girls 
were  known  in  art  circles  as  *'  Night "  and  **  Morning," 
and  had  so  been  painted  by  Carl  Schiller. 

Shirley  through  life  was  frankly  susceptible  to  the 
charms  of  a  pretty  face,  and  had  to  pay  the  price  of 
his  susceptibility.  Not  that  his  marriage  proved 
other  than  satisfactory,  as  marriages  go,  but  it  was  ^ 
scarcely  the  ideal  union.  There  was  little  of  that 
intellectual  sympathy  which  increases  with  age.  To 
Mrs.  Brooks  her  husband's  work,  after  the  first  blush 
of  the  thing  had  worn  off,  was  just  a  money-making 
affair,  and  so  far  of  importance.     But  in  its  wider 

129 

lo— (a297) 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

aspect  it  made  little  or  no  appeal  to  her,  save  where 
it  brought  in  its  train  free  tickets  for  the  theatre- 
going  which  was  her  passion,  and  those  social 
invitations  which  choke  the  letter-box  of  the  literary 
celebrity.  ^ 

Twenty  years  later,  I  find  him  writing  rather  bitterly 
in  his  diary  : — 

''  E.  described  literature  as  a  '  rotten  stick/  .  .  . 
We  have  not  found  it  so  rotten,  I  think,  yet.  Nor  will 
it  be,  while  my  health  endures,  please  God.  And  that 
failing,  any  vocation  would  be  rotten,  unless  it  had 
enabled  one  to  save.'' 

That  is  the  protest  of  the  man  of  letters  against  a 
slight  passed  upon  what,  in  his  eyes,  was  something 
more  than  a  trade — something  the  value  of  which 
was  not  merely  to  be  gauged  by  pounds,  shillings,  and 
pence.  I  do  not  wish  to  lay  too  much  stress  upon 
this,  nor  to  put  all  the  blame  on  Mrs.  Brooks's  shoulders 
for  the  lack  of  spontaneous  sympathy  which  marked 
their  married  life.  I  say  ''  spontaneous  sympathy," 
for  Shirley  was  instant,  as  we  shall  see,  in  trying  to 
invent  a  workable  substitute. 

It  may  be,  too,  that  Shirley  early  aroused  in  his 
wife  the  jealousy  which  is  so  easily  excited  in  some 
gentle  breasts,  and  kills  the  seed  of  true  sympathy 
which  should  grow  and  grow  until  it  becomes  the  very 
flower  of  life.  Indeed,  he  once  confessed  to  Mr.  Silver 
that  soon  after  the  honeymoon  his  wife  scolded  him 
for  peeping  into  pretty  bonnets,  while  he  walked  with 
her,  and  that  he  only  a  little  pacified  her  by  the 
suddenly  invented    excuse — ''  My   dear,   I  was   only 

130 


MRS.   SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

looking  to  see  if  I  could  find  a  prettier  face  than  yours, 
and  I  really  cannot/' 

One  day  somebody  was  chaffing  Mrs.  Brooks  on  this 
score,  when  she  exclaimed,  ''  Shirley,  O  Shirley ! 
I  would  trust  him  in  a  nunnery  '*  ;  but  that  may  have 
meant  anything.  A  good  many  women  simulate 
indifference  when  touched  on  the  raw. 

Mrs.  Brooks,  though  technically  a  Creole,  was  Irish, 
and  very  proud  of  the  fact.  She  also  had  the  super- 
stitions of  her  race.  Mrs.  Panton  tells  me  that  the 
Christmas  before  she  died — she  survived  her  husband 
for  six  years — she  dined  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Frith. 
There  were  thirteen  at  table,  and  no  *'  Man  from 
Blankley's  !  "  Mrs.  Frith  got  up  first,  saying,  *'  I  will 
be  the  first,  because  I  can  best  be  spared.''  Im- 
mediately up  jumped  ''  Shirlina,"  as  Mrs.  Brooks  was 
nicknamed  in  their  circle,  crying,  *'  Well,  I'll  be  the 
second,  for  if  you  died,  dear  Mrs.  Frith,  I  shouldn't 
want  to  live."  A  month  later  Mrs.  Frith  was  dead, 
and  five  months  later  Mrs.  Brooks  ! 

Shirley  was  sixteen  years  older  than  his  wife,  and 
seems  to  have  expressed  the  position  before  their 
marriage  in  "  Horace  for  the  Ladies  "  : — 


"  O  Lilian  dear,  you're  just  eighteen, 
And  I  am  nearly  forty-three : 
But  that's  no  reason,  Httle  queen, 
That  you  should  seem  so  shy  of  me. 
"  Whene'er  I  come  you  run  away, 
Just  Hke  a  timid,  fooUsh  fawn  ; 
Rush  to  the  instrument  to  play, 
Or  join  the  children  on  the  lawn. 
131 


SHIRLEY   BROOKS 

**  Fm  not  a  tiger,  fawn,  you  know. 
Although  a  Lion  in  saloons ; 
Why  run  from  me  with  such  a  show 
Of  love  for  brats,  and  birds,  and  tunes  ? 

**  Come  :    add  eighteen  to  forty-three, 
That's  only  sixty-one  between  us ; 
My  wife  I've  vowed  that  you  shall  be. 
So  take  this  ring,  my  httle  Venus." 

Later  on    he   found  that  sympathetic  intelHgence 

was  lacking,  and  Mohere  tells  us  that 

.  .  .  **  I'age  ne  sert  de  gu^re, 
Quand  on  n'a  pas  cela." 

That  no  doubt  drove  him  in  the  early  years  of  his 
married  life  to  the  clubs,  which  he  loved,  and  that  made 

I  him  not  so  disconsolate  a  grass-widower  as  he  might 
have  been,  when  he  had  his  house  to  himself,  and 
London  all  round  it.  For  Shirley  was  as  essentially 
a  London  man  as  was  Dr.  Johnson.  On  the  rare 
occasions  when,  on  strong  compulsion,  he  accompanied 
his  wife  and  sons  on  holiday  trips,  he  w^ould  soon  grow 
restless  and  chafe  until  he  could  get  back  to  his  own 
house  in  Regent's  Park,  to  his  morning  papers,  his 
voluminous  correspondence,  his  own  armchair  and  his 
familiar  books — all  set  in  his  own  methodical  way 
and  not  to  be  touched  by  strange  hands  on  any  account. 
Then  he  was  happy.  He  had  the  house  to  himself  for 
his  work,  and,  what  was  more,  he  was  within  reach  of 
his  beloved  Fleet  Street,  the  ''  Bedford  '*  (his  favourite 
hotel  under  the  piazzas  of  Covent  Garden),  and  the 

I  ''  Garrick,''  "  Fielding,''  or  ''  Our  ''  Clubs.  Thither  he 
would  walk,  happier  in  the  movement  of  the  streets 
than  in  the  loveliest  of  Nature's  unspoiled  scenery,  eager 

132 


AS  FATHER 

for  a  plain  dinner,  a  glass  of  punch  and  a  good  chat  with 
Mark  Lemon  and  other  of  his  Bohemian  friends. 

In  October,  1854,  Mrs.  Brooks  presented  her  husband 
with  the  first  of  their  two  sons,  and  Shirley  accepted 
his  paternal  responsibiUties  with  due  seriousness.  As 
Mr.  Frith  writes  of  him  when  his  sons  were  growing  up, 
*'  If  ever  father  *  garnered  up  hopes  '  in  his  children, 
Shirley  Brooks  was  the  man.''  He  held  advanced 
ideas  on  the  subject  of  education,  and  determined 
that  they  should  have  of  the  very  best.  With  this 
idea  he  took  an  active  interest  in  the  formation  of  the 
now  defunct  '*  International  College ''  at  Isle  worth, 
investing  and  losing  in  the  scheme  a  considerable  sum 
of  money.  That  was  to  be  the  starting  point,  and 
from  thence  the  boys  were  to  go  to  Germany,  then  to 
France,  and  so  get  a  non-insular  all-round  education. 

In  the  case  of  his  eldest  son,  Reginald,  this  scheme 
was  adhered  to,  with  what  seemed  at  first  good  results, 
for  the  boy  showed  brilliant  promise.  Later  on  he 
entered  Owens  College,  Manchester,  and  Shirley  wrote 
in  his  diary  : — 

'*  God  bless  him,  may  this  be  the  crowning  of  his 
education,  which  we  may  say  we  have  spared  nothing 
to  make  effective.** 

But  the  promise  of  a  brilliant  and  distinguished 
career  was  not  to  be  fulfilled.  Fortunately  for  Shirley 
he  did  not  live  to  receive  the  blow  which  would  have 
fallen  upon  him  with  staggering  effect. 

For  six  years  after  his  death,  and  so  long  as  Mrs. 
Brooks  lived,  things  went  well  enough  with  the  boy. 
In  1880  he  was  doing  some  work  for  Punch,    '*  The 

133 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

following  year/*  writes  Mr.  Spielmann,  '*  he  was  called 
to  the  Table,  and  remained  there  without  much 
distinction  until  1884.  He  wrote  some  smart  papers, 
but  his  groove  was  not  that  of  the  sober  and  respectable 
Fleet  Street  sage.  He  preferred  wilder  spirits  and 
accordingly  retired." 

Then  he  blossomed  into  *'  Blobbs ''  of  the  Sporting 
Times,  and  his  fate  was  sealed.  Those  were  the  days 
when  certain  *'  smart ''  drinking  bars  in  London  stood 
free  to  that  poisonous  group  of  dissipated  flaneurs 
who  posed  as  the  latest  expression  of  sporting  journal- 
ism, and  simulated  every  vice  which  they  did  not 
practise.  "  About  this  time,''  writes  one  of  his  ac- 
quaintances, "  he  fell  madly  in  love  with  a  well-known 
actress,  who  is  now  a  peeress,  and  tried  to  shoot  him- 
self, but  failing,  was  not  too  overcome  to  give  a 
laughable  account  of  it  to  his  friends  !  ''  That  is,  in 
little,  the  record  of  a  wasted  life.  The  end  was  certain, 
and,  like  many  another  of  his  colleagues,  he  went 
under  and  died. 

The  history  of  the  younger  boy  was  no  less  tragic, 
and  the  only  satisfaction  in  the  whole  wretched  business 
was  that  the  passionately  devoted  father  did  not  live 
long  enough  to  see  his  fondest  hopes  dashed  to  the 
ground.  What  might  have  been  their  fate,  had  their 
father  lived,  who  can  say  ?  Possibly  we  might  have 
been  spared  the  spectacle  of  two  more  failures.  But 
they  went  out  into  the  world  to  learn  by  experience. 
The  teacher's  school-fees  proved  too  heavy,  and  there 
was  no  one  by  to  help  them  pay. 


134 


CHAPTER  IX 

1853-1856 — The  Crimea — "  Dagon  " — Percival  Leigh — Horace 
Mayhew — "  The  Gordian  Knot  " — Generous  Help  from  Messrs. 
Bradbury  &  Evans — Story  of  Spurgeon — "  Poem  by  a  Perfectly 
Furious  Academician  " — The  Deceased  Wife's  Sister — An 
Armed  Passage  with  Richard  Bentley — Mr.  W.  P.  Frith — 
"  Cottle.'' 


\U>'^ 


N  the  last  chapter  I  have,  with 
the  object  of  clearing  the  ground 
for  the  consecutive  narrative, 
somewhat  anticipated  events. 
The  story  shall  henceforward  be 
allowed  to  unfold  itself  step  by 
step,  and  as  far  as  possible  by 
means  of  letters  and  diaries. 

Shirley  had  now  a  wife,  and 
ways  and  means  had  to  be 
considered.  He  had  a  good 
many  irons  in  the  fire,  but  it  was  Punch  who  was 
gradually  coming  to  be  his  principal  paymaster.  At 
first  he  received  the  usual  outsider's  fee  of  a  guinea  a 
column.  Now,  towards  the  close  of  1853,  he  was 
promoted,  as  a  member  of  the  staff,  to  five  guineas  ( 
a  week. 

A  letter  of  this  period  to  one  of  the  proprietors 
suggests  that  his  domestic  responsibilities  may  have 
been  for  the  moment  a  little  too  much  for  his  purse. 

135 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

S.  B.  TO  F.  M.  Evans. 

"  12  New  Inn, 

"  Oct.  3rd,  1853. 

"  My  dear  Evans, 

"  Will  you  have  the  kindness  to  perpetrate  in  my 
favour  one  of  those  deeds  which  you  last  committed  for 
me  between  three  and  four  months  ago,  videlicet ,  the 
drawing  a  cheque  for  twenty  pounds  for  me.  I  need 
not  add  that  I  make  the  request  with  the  sanction  and 
I  may  add  under  the  distinguished  patronage  of 
St.  Mark  of  the  Lemons. 

''  Believe  me,  my  dear  Evans, 

*'  Yours  ever  faithfully, 

"  Shirley  Brooks.*' 

This  letter,  it  will  be  noticed,  is  addressed  from 
12  New  Inn,  where  he  had  chambers  for  the  first  few 
years  of  his  life  as  a  Benedict.  By  1860  he  and  his  wife 
were  living  at  22  Brompton  Square,  and  in  1861  were 
installed  in  their  final  home  at  6  Kent  Terrace,  Regent's 
Park. 

The  following  letter  is  eloquent  of  the  general 
condemnation  of  the  conduct  of  Ministers  and  the 
incapacity  of  our  commanders  in  the  Crimea.  The 
Emperor  Nicholas  was  at  this  time  Punch's  chief 
bugbear,  but  ''  General  F6vrier  *'  was  soon  to  turn 
traitor  and  to  give  Leech  the  opportunity  of  rising  to 
the  highest  pitch  of  imagination,  though  by  no  means 
the  highest  pitch  of  artistic  excellence,  to  which  he 
ever  attained. 

''  Received  by  most  with  wild  enthusiasm,'*  says 
Mr.  Spielmann,  '*  by  others  with  condemnation  as  a 

136 


"DAGON" 

cruel  use  of  a  cruel  fate,  it  (the  cartoon)  none  the  less 
electrified  the  country.*'  That  is  true,  but  I  am 
inclined  to  think  that  the  minority  were  the  sober- 
minded  ones,  and  that  they  were  more  in  accord  with 
the  spirit  of  Shirley's  verses,  entitled  ''  Dagon,"  which 
appeared  in  the  same  issue.    Here  is  the  first  stanza  : — 

"  DAGON." 
"  Smitten — as  by  lightning — smitten 

Down  amid  his  armed  array  ; 
With  the  fiery  scroll  scarce  written 

Bidding  myriads  to  the  fray ; 
There — but  yesterday  defying 

Europe's  banners,  linked  and  flying 
For  her  freedom — see  him  lying — 

Earth's  Colossus — earth's  own  clay. 
But  no  triumph-shout  be  given, 
Knee  to  earth  and  eye  to  heaven  ! 

God  hath  judged  the  day." 

S.  B.  TO  Percival  Leigh. 

"  12  New  Inn, 

"  New  Year's  Eve,  1854, 
"  11  a.m. 

"  My  dear  Professor, 

"  '  A  few  gents  meeting  at  Clunn's  *  last  night 
remembered  you  *  in  their  cups '  (elegant  for  brandy- 
anwar),  and  some  of  them  swore  to  write  and  wish  you 
a  happy  new  year.  Then  some  of  them  went  to  the 
pit  of  the  Opimlic*  theatre,  and  lost  one  another. 
Whether  the  vow  will  be  remembered  in  more  quarters 
than  one  will  be  seen,  but  here  is  my  discharge  thereof. 
I  hope  that  you  have  been,  are,  and  will  be  exceeding 
jolly,  and  that,  when  the  revel  is  ended,  we  shall  see 
you  renewed  Hke  an  eagle,  the  sun,  a  giant  (or  any 

*  Another  of  Shirley's  dreadful  inversions. 

137 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

other  Oriental  simile)  to  wop  Nicholas,  etc.,  etc.  Now 
I  do  earnestly  wish  you  a  very  happy  new  year,  my 
dear  Professor. 

*'  Of  course  there  is  nothing  else  to  say.  I  never 
in  all  my  long,  useless  and  evil  life  knew  society  so 
hideously  dull.  Nobody  never  tells  you  nothing, 
except  anecdotes  illustrative  of  the  neglect  of  the 
Government  about  the  Army.  It  is  rumoured  that 
positive  orders  have  been  sent  to  Lord  Raggy  to  dash 
at  Sebastopol  coute  que  coute,  but  I  don't  believe  it, 
though  I  do  not  think,  if  he  did,  people  would  be 
displeased.  But  we  are  like  a  man  who  has  had  rude 
health  all  his  life,  and  suddenly  feels  illness,  and  bears 
it  abominably — forty  years'  peace  has  made  us  bad 
war  patients. 

*'  A  spangled  officer  told  us  the  other  day  that  in  the 
Army  they  call  the  Crimea  '  Aberdeen's  General 
Cemetery.' 

'*  .  .  .  We  were  to  have  had  white  soup  on  Wednes- 
day last,  and  didn't.  Pater  Evans  not  remembering  to 
order  it.  For  the  which  the  judgment  of  Heaven  hath 
speedily  descended  upon  him,  his  landlord  having 
given  him  offensive  notice  to  quit.  Such  are  the 
consequences  of  crime,  beware  thereof. 

Is  Scamp*  with  you  ?     If  so  give  him  a  bone  for  me. 
"  I  am,  my  dear  fellow, 

''  Ever  yours, 
*'  Shirley  Brooks." 

The  next  letter  in  order  of  date  I  find  pasted  into 
a  copy  of  ''  Aspen  Court,"  which  Shirley  presented 
later  on  in  this  year  to  Horace  Mayhew.  But  why 
"  Ponny,"  who  was  no  artist,  should  be  called  upon  to 
sign  the  Art  Union  Plate  is  to  me  an  insoluble  mystery. 

♦  Leigh's  dog. 

138 


" PONNY " 
S.  B.  TO  Horace  Mayhew. 

{Date  on  post-mark,  April  25th,  1855.) 

"  Thursday. 

*'  Venerated  Man, 

"  Three  minutes  after  sight  take  a  piece  of  paper — 
a  strip  (I  should  say)  not  more  than  an  inch-and-a-half 
wide  and  six  inches  long. 

*'  Have  you  done  that  ? 

''  Very  well. 

'*  Then  write  lengthways  (the  way  you  always  write 
your  notes,  by  the  way,  and  a  heathenish  way  it  is) 
any  words  with  which  genius  may  inspire  you  to  the 
effect  that  you  give  me — what  ? 

''  What  ?  Why,  the  Beautiful  Plate  of  the  Art 
Union  to  be  sure.  I  saw  it  at  the  office  just  now, 
and  bought  it  in  a  phrenzy,  have  kicked  a  church  out 
of  a  frame  to  make  room  for  it,  and  it  hangs  already 
over  my  chimbley.  But  I  Hke  an  autograph  to 
complete  it.  Send  it  us,  that's  a  good  fellow,  and  I 
will  go  and  applaud  your  pantomime  at  the  Olympic 
again,  and  also  your  opera  at  the  Albert  Saloon, 
besides  reading  your  contributions  to  the  Family 
Herald. 

*'  Ever  yours  faithfully, 

''  Shirley  Brooks. 

'*  Horace  Mayhew,  Esq." 

Two  days  later  he  wrote  thanking  Mr.  Evans  for 
further  advances.  ''  The  book  **  referred  to  is,  of 
course,  ''  Aspen  Court,''  which  had  been  running 
serially  and  was  now  being  revised  for  publication  in 
volume  form. 

139 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 
S.  B.  TO  F.  M.  Evans. 

"  April  21th,  1855. 

**  My  dear  Evans, 

"  Thanks — many  of  them.  I  feel  Uke  a  post- 
mortem capitaHst. 

'*  From  to-morrow  morning  until  the  book  is  in  the 
printer's  hands  I  shut  myself  up  working  thereat. 
Should  you  see  Bentley,  this  assurance  will  probably 
satisfy  him.     I  shall  look  at  nothing  till  the  work  is  out. 

''  Ever  yours  faithfully, 

'*  Shirley  Brooks. 
''  F.  M.  Evans,  Esq." 

The  next  letter,  which  as  a  matter  of  fact  was  never 
sent,  is  eloquent  of  Shirley's  growing  confidence  in  his 
position  as  a  writer  and  of  his  intention  to  assert  his 
independence.  Fortunately  perhaps,  he  submitted 
it  to  "  Pater  "  Evans,  who  counselled  a  less  bellicose 
tone.  Otherwise  it  is  not  improbable  that  ''  The 
Gordian  Knot,"  his  next  novel,  would  have  had  to  seek 
another  publisher. 

S.  B.  TO  Richard  Bentley. 

"  12  New  Inn, 

"  Aug.  5th,  1855. 

'*  My  dear  Sir, 

''  I  am  favoured  with  your  note  of  the  3rd  and 
immediately  reply,  although  your  misconception  of 
the  idea  I  had,  as  to  bringing  out  a  new  book,  seems  to 
render  it  improbable  that  our  communication  will 
result  in  business.  I  made  no  ''  proposal,"  but  I 
intimated  to  our  common  friend,  Mr.  Evans,  that  if 
certain  terms  could  be  arranged,  I  should  prefer  my 
next  novel  to  proceed  from  your  house  to  bringing 
it    out    ''elsewhere" — meaning    a    quarter    whence 

HO 


A  BREEZE  WITH   BENTLEY 

a    proposal — one    among    several — has    been    made 
to  me. 

''  You  propose  that  I  should  write  the  book,  and, 
*  when  complete,'  let  you  *  see  it '  that  you  '  may 
take  it  into  consideration/ 

*'  Our  two  views  of  my  position  as  an  author  are  so 
essentially  diverse,  that  it  is  scarcely  worth  while  to 
remark  upon  your  proposing  to  me  exactly  what  you 
would,  properly,  propose  to  a  writer  who  had  never 
published  a  line,  and  who  came  to  request  you  to 
bring  out  his  first  book. 

*'  I  may,  therefore,  I  presume,  receive  your  note  as 
one  which  disposes  of  the  consideration  that  induced 
me  to  desire  that  the  house  which  had  brought  out 
my  first  novel,  with,  I  understand,  so  much  financial 
success,  and  with,  I  read,  so  much  general  approbation, 
should  produce  the  next. 

'*  With  best  regards,  believe  me, 
''  My  dear  Sir, 

*'  Yours  very  truly, 
/n  '*  Shirley  Brooks." 

S.  B.  to  F.  M.  Evans. 

"  12  New  Inn, 

**  Saturday  night. 

'*  My  dear  Pater, 

**  I  have  had  the  enclosed  from  Bentley.  It  is 
either  a  bit  of  his  habitual  ignorance,  or  else  imper- 
tinence— it  don't  much  matter  which.  I  have  written 
a  reply  which  I  should  like  you  to  read,  and  either 
forward,  or  suppress  it,  as  you  may  think  most  proper. 
I  shall  be  away  till  Wednesday,  but  up  to  meet  you  at 
Thackeray's.  -Ever  yours  faithfully, 

''S.  B." 
Eventually  Shirley's  ruffled  feelings  were  smoothed 
down,  and  he  undertook  a  second  serial  for  Bentley. 

141 


SHIRLEY   BROOKS 

In  this,  as  events  proved,  he  was  undertaking  more 
than  he  could  easily  perform.  Engaged  as  he  was 
at  that  time  in  ever-increasing  newspaper  work  of  an 
arduous  nature,  he,  in  his  own  rather  turgid  words, 
**  under-estimated  the  difficulty  of  suddenly  turning 
from  the  exciting  duties  and  pleasures  of  journalism 
to  the  Unes  upon  which  a  writer  who  aspires  to  be  an 
artist  lays  down  a  work  of  extended  character/'  And 
as  time  went  on  he  found  it  harder  and  harder  to  turn 
from  active  and  polemic  press -work  to  the  spinning 
of  a  consecutive  and  sustained  work  of  fiction.  On 
the  top  of  it  all  came  domestic  trouble,  with  the  result 
that  a  considerable  interval  elapsed  between  two  of  the 
instalments  into  which  the  tale  was  necessarily  divided. 
This  naturally  disturbed  Mr.  Bentley,  who  threatened 
legal  proceedings.  Fortunately  Charles  Dickens  came 
to  the  rescue,  and  the  threat  was  not  carried  into 
execution.  Eventually  '*  The  Gordian  Knot ''  got 
finished.  But  the  twelve  numbers  spread  themselves 
over  twice  as  many  months,  to  the  annoyance  of  an 
expectant  public  and  the  detriment  of  the  sales  of  the 
magazine.  When,  however,  it  had  received  careful 
revision  and  appeared  in  book  form  in  1860  it  obtained 
considerable  success,  and  was  held  worthy  of  dedication 
to  his  beloved  chief  and  his  wife,  friends  for  whom  he 
always  retained  the  deepest  regard. 

To  Mark  and  Helen  Lemon. 

''  My  dear  Friends, 

*'  I  have  strong  claims  to  the  right  of  inscribing 
this  book  with  your  names.  Years  back,  a  pleasant 
and   valuable   literary   connexion    with   one   of   you 

142 


''THE  GORDIAN   KNOT" 

originated  a  cordial  friendship  with  both  ;  and,  if  I  am 
happy  to  say  that  I  see  no  prospect  of  a  termination 
of  the  first,  I  am  still  happier  to  believe  in  the 
impossibihty  of  an  interruption  of  the  second. 

**  Then,  if  I  add  that  a  large,  and  to  me  the  most 
agreeable  portion  of  this  volume,  was  composed  in  the 
quiet  and  dehghtful  Sussex  retreat  which  you  have 
chosen,  and  while  I  was  enjoying  the  kindest  hospital- 
ities of  your  household,  I  think  that  I  have  made  out 
my  claim  to  sign  myself,  in  this  public  manner, 

'*  Your  obUged  and  attached  Friend, 
"  Shirley  Brooks. 

"  The  Tempter 

The  book  owed  much  of  its  success  to  the 
illustrations  by  John  Tenniel,  and  the  Illustrated 
London  News  paid  the  great  Punch  artist  the  very 
unusual  compUment  of  specially  engraving  on  wood 
one  of  the  etched  designs  for  the  purpose  of  illustrating 
their  review  of  the  volumes.  Apparently,  too,  they 
found  much  to  admire  in  Shirley's  share  of  the  work, 
for  they  wrote,  *'  We  would  strongly  recommend 
Mr.  Brooks  as  a  model  to  many  of  the  literary  aspirants 
of  the  day  who  are  either  infected  with  Carlyle  or 
Ruskinism.*'  But  this  after  all  may  have  been  merely 
the  hyperbole  of  log-rolling  on  behalf  of  one  of  their 
own  regular  contributors. 

About  this  time  Spurgeon  had  come  up  to  London, 
and  Exeter  Hall  was  bursting  with  his  immense 
audiences.  Stories,  true  and  apocryphal,  were  rife. 
Here  is  one  which  Shirley  had  picked  up  and  dispatched 
to  Percival  Leigh. 

*'  I  requite  your  story  with  another,  but  I  regret  to 

143 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

say  a  harmless  one.  Spurgeon  was  travelling  in  a 
railway  carriage.  Ladies  therein.  To  them  he  did  not 
speak.  But  at  last,  coming  through  Kelvedon,  he 
pointed  at  it,  and  said  with  a  fat  smile,  *  There  the 
celebrated  Spurgeon  was  born.'  Instantly  answered 
him  a  wiry,  blue-stocking  sort  of  woman,  who  had 
recognized  him,  *  Had  Paul  been  travelhng  on  the 
railway  passing  through  Tarsus,  he  would  have  said 
^^  There  the  chief  of  sinners  was  born."  '  The  Baptist 
was  shut  up,  as  now  shall  be  this  letter,  for  I  am 
summoned  to  a  roast  '  fessant.'  '' 

Punch  laughed  good-humouredly  at  the  young 
evangelist's  glowing  periods  and  heU-fire  threatenings, 
and  "  calculated  that  on  an  average  the  reverend 
teacher  uses  in  every  sermon  no  less  than  three  tons  of 
coal,  and  all  red-hot.'*  But  Spurgeon  had  a  good  sense 
of  humour  too,  and  is  said  to  have  treasured  up  all  the 
cartoons  and  caricatures  that  sought  to  turn  him  into 
ridicule. 

Punch  got  a  good  deal  of  fun  out  of  the  "  Pre- 
Raphaelite  "  movement,  and  Shirley  in  1856  contri- 
buted to  the  controversy  the  celebrated  *'  Poem  by 
a  perfectly  furious  Academician,"  which  is  always 
worth  repeating. 

"  I  takes  and  paints, 
Hears  no  complaints, 

And  sells  before  I'm  dry  ; 
Till  savage  Ruskin 
He  sticks  his  tusk  in, 

Then  nobody  will  buy. 

*'  N.B. — Confound  Ruskin — only  that  will  not  come  into  the 
poetry — but  it's  true." 

144 


DECEASED  WIFE'S  SISTER 

This  same  year  he  plumped  for  ''  The  Deceased 
Wife's  Sister's  Bill/'  which  the  Commons  had  passed 
but  to  which  the  Lords  were  hostile  : — 

**  You  wrote  my  letters,  you  paid  my  bills, 

And  took  receipts  (which  you  never  lost), 
I  smoked,  you  twisted  the  nicest  spills. 

And  you  always  knew  what  the  coals  had  cost. 
You  saw  that  my  slippers  were  near  my  chair. 

You  saw  that  my  study  fire  would  draw. 
And  you  did  it  all  with  a  cheerful  air, 

(Not  that  of  a  Martyr),  my  Sister-in-law." 

The  reasons  it  must  be  admitted  were  of  the  flimsiest, 
but  to  the  average  man,  who  was  not  a  theologian, 
they  seemed  sufficient.  Fifteen  years  later  when  he 
was  reading  Miss  Muloch's  book  written  to  the  same 
end  he  entered  in  his  diary  : — 

*'  Finished  '  Hannah.'  It  is  a  pretty  sermon  to 
inculcate  the  propriety  of  taking  your  wife's  sister 
abroad,  marrying  her  there,  and  settling  there  till  the 
law  be  altered." 

Shirley  was  now  hard  at  work  on  his  novel,  '*  The 
Gordian  Knot,"  but  novels  have  an  awkward  way  of 
not  getting  paid  for  until  the  manuscript  is  in  the  hands 
of  the  publisher.  And  Shirley's  late  passage  with 
Bentley  made  it  difficult  to  go  down  on  his  knees  for 
an  advance  from  that  quarter.  For  his  own  and  his 
wife's  current  needs  his  income  was  fully  sufficient, 
but  he  had  outrun  the  constable  in  setting  up  his 
household  gods,  and  there  were  other  unexpected 
calls  crowding  in  upon  him.  His  father  was  old,  ill, 
and  past  his  work,  and  his  sister,  who  had  been  long 

145 

II— (2297) 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

ailing,  was  now  too  ill  to  be  left  alone.  Shirley  was 
the  only  member  of  the  family  in  a  position  to  help, 
and  again  he  was  forced  to  throw  himself  on  the  mercy 
of  the  ever-generous  proprietors  of  Punch. 

S.  B.  TO  Messrs.  Bradbury  and  Evans. 

"  12  New  Inn, 

"  nth  November,  1856. 

*'  My  dear  Friends,  Bradbury  and  Evans, 

"  I  have  a  favour  to  ask  at  your  hands.  Let  me 
state  the  circumstances  as  briefly  as  I  can. 

**  My  hands  are  very  full  of  well-paid  business,  but 
my  giving  to  it  the  full  energy  and  attention  which  it 
requires  has  been  grievously  interfered  with,  during 
the  last  three  months,  by  family  afflictions  of  a  very 
disturbing  character.  The  serious  illness  of  my  father 
has  been  one  of  these,  but  a  greater  has  been,  I  deplore 
to  say,  the  (illness)  of  my  sister,  whose  condition  has 
rendered  my  days  and  even  nights  perfectly  unsettled 
and  miserable.  It  has  been  with  much  difficulty  that 
I  have  been  enabled  to  meet  the  various  regular  literary 
demands  on  me — ^the  work  of  definite  dates.  Other 
work  has  been  sadly  postponed,  for  there  is  no  need 
to  tell  you  that  intellectual  labour  can  only  be  got 
out  of  something  like  a  tranquil  mind. 

''  The  next  consequence  has  been  that  certain 
pecuniary  troubles,  of  no  great  amount,  but  harassing, 
have  been  added  to  my  vexations,  and  increase  my 
hindrances.  Could  I  remove  the  more  pressing  of 
these,  I  could  go  to  work  with  full  force,  and  do  myself 
and  others  more  justice. 

*'  I  have  tried  to  explain  myself  as  succinctly  as  I 
could.  I  feel  anxious  to  put  my  request  with  more 
circumlocution,  and  yet  I  should  be  thereby  doing  an 

146 


GENEROSITY  OF  BRADBURY   &  EVANS 

injustice  to  the  spirit  of  friendship  in  which  you  will 
receive — however  you  decide  upon — my  request. 

''  On  delivery  of  my  novel  to  Mr.  Bentley,  there  will 
be  £100  for  me  to  receive.  I  would  ask  you,  not  for 
actual  coin,  but  to  oblige  me  with  your  acceptance, 
at  3  months,  for  the  above  amount,  and  I  would  also 
give  you  such  authority  as  would  prevent  Mr.  Bentley 
from  handing  the  money  over,  except  to  yourselves. 
Thus,  if  my  mind  were  at  ease,  and  I  could  work,  the 
book  would  be  complete,  and  the  money  at  your 
disposal  before  the  acceptance  was  due.  I  do  not 
know  whether  this  is  exactly  a  business-like  proposal, 
but  it  seems  safe,  if  you  have  confidence  in  my  brains 
and  health — I  know  you  have  in  my  intentions. 

''  I  think  I  will  say  no  more,  except  that  I  ask  this 
with  the  reluctance  one  feels  to  trespass  upon  kindness, 
but  I  know  that  you  will  at  once  understand  the  whole 
case  as  completely  as  possible,  and  then  I  leave  the 
matter  for  your  consideration,  simply  adding  that  no 
result  can  increase  or  diminish  the  earnest  regard  with 
which  I  remain, 

"  Dear  '  B.  and  E.,' 

"  Yours  most  faithfully, 

"  Shirley  Brooks." 

As  before,  Messrs.  Bradbury  and  Evans  gave  the  help 
that  was  asked  for,  and  Shirley  wrote  : — 

S.  B.  TO  Messrs.  Bradbury  &  Evans. 

"  12  New  Inn, 
.  "  Nov.  2Sth,  1856. 

''  My  dear  B.  &  E., 

''  One  word  more  of  sincerest  thanks  for  your 
kindness,  which  has  much  relieved  my  mind. 

**  I  will  call  at  Whitefriars  to-morrow  about  mid-day. 

147 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

In  the  meantime  I  enclose  a  bill  which  I  hope,  unlike 
Crabbe's, 

"  Is  drawn  with  true  mercantile  skill," 

and  a  sort  of  note  to  Bentley  which  will,  I  presume, 
answer  the  purpose  of  a  distringas. 

'*  BeUeve  me,  my  dear  B.  &  E., 
"  Yours  most  faithfully 
''  and  obliged, 

"s.  b:' 

It  was  about  this  time  that  the  Brookses  first  met 
Mr.  Frith,  the  distinguished  Royal  Academician,  at  a 
dinner  at  John  Leeches,  and  thus  began  a  friendship 
which  lasted  as  long  as  life.  Writing  of  that  meeting 
in  his  delightful ''  Reminiscences,"*  Mr.  Frith  says  : — 

''  I  then  became  aware  how  well  Brooks  deserved  to 
be  called  '  good  company.'  He  had  long  been  on  the 
staif  of  Punchy  under  the  leadership  of  Mark  Lemon, 
and  nearly  every  week  that  paper  owed  some  of  its 
smartest  writing  to  the  pen  of  Shirley  Brooks.  But 
it  was  in  conversation,  and  above  all  in  his  letters, 
that  his  wit  and  humour  were  brilliantly  conspicuous.'' 

As  we  proceed  we  shall  constantly  catch  glimpses  of 
deUghtful  passages  between  these  two  remarkable  men. 
One  standing  joke  between  them  came  to  be  that 
Shirley  fathered  upon  his  friend  any  particularly 
outrageous  communication  that  might  be  from  time 
to  time  thrust  into  the  Punch  letter-box.  It  was  one 
of  these  communications  which  secured  for  Mr.  Frith 
the  nickname  of  "  Cottle."  Here  is  the  distinguished 
artist's  amusing  account  of  the  circumstance  : — 

*  The  many  valuable  quotations  from  the  Reminiscences  which 
follow  are  made  with  the  kind  permission  of  Messrs.  Macmillan  &  Co. 

148 


''COTTLE** 

''  A  certain  Elizabeth  Cottle  sent  to  Punch  a  wild 
document — plentifully  interspersed  with  religious  quo- 
tations— in  which  she  proved  to  her  own  satisfaction 
that  if  she  had  her  rights  she  would  be  Queen  of 
England.  She  traced  her  descent  in  the  clearest  way 
from  Henry  VIII,  who  had  a  lawful  wife  unknown  to 
history — a  Lady  Elizabeth  Cottle,  or  Cottal,  daughter 
of  a  knight  of  that  name  who  had  saved  Henry's  life 
at  the  Battle  of  Armageddon.  An  angel  appeared  on 
the  occasion,  and  placed  upon  the  knight's  head  a 
crown  of  gold,  thereby  greatly  astonishing  all  the 
British  army.  According  to  Elizabeth,  the  heavenly 
visitor  stayed  long  enough  to  tell  the  English  monarch 
that — in  return  for  the  important  service  rendered 
by  the  vahant  knight — he  must  immediately  take  to 
wife  the  beautiful  daughter  of  his  preserver.  The  wife 
in  possession  was  removed  by  simply  taking  off  her 
head,  and  the  Lady  Cottle  became  Mrs.  Henry,  and 
from  that  secret  marriage  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Cottle  under- 
took to  show,  in  the  pages  of  Punchy  that  she  was 
descended  in  what  she  called  '  a  straight  line '  ; 
offering  great  numbers  of  quotations  from  Holy  Writ 
in  proof  of  her  case. 

'*  This  interesting  descendant  from  a  long  Hne  of  kings 
lived  at  Putney,  a  locality — as  she  threateningly  put 
it — soon  to  be  exchanged  for  Buckingham  Palace. 

**  The  above,  to  the  best  of  my  lecoUection,  is  a  fair 
summary  of  the  Cottle  manifesto  ;  the  original — 
which  Brooks  sent  me,  with  an  inimitably  funny  note 
affecting  to  believe  me  to  be  the  author — I  regret  to  say, 
has  been  lost. 

'*  In  spite  of  my  denial  of  any  knowledge  of  Mrs.  or 
Miss  Cottle,  I  became  Cottle  in  Shirley's  eyes,  and  he 
frequently  addressed  me  accordingly." 

I  have  said  that,  despite  the  fact  that  Shirley's 

149 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

pen  was  for  ever  in  his  hand,  he  was  never  too  tired  to 
put  it  to  work  again  to  dash  off  a  joke  which  he  wished 
to  share  with  a  friend.  Here  is  a  typical  note  of  the 
kind,  written  to  Mr.  Frith  a  few  years  later,  which  also 
proves  incidentally  that  Shirley  was  no  great  authority 
on  German  pronunciation. 

S.  B.  TO  Mr.  Frith. 
"  My  dear  Cottle, 

"  I  present  you  with  our  work 

*  ON  THE  EMINENT  TELEGRAPHIST   (BARON  REUTER) 

*  England  believes  his  telegrams, 

Whether  they  please  or  fright  her ; 
Other  electric  sparks  are  right, 
But  he  is  always  "  righter." 

That  forces  the  most  ignorant  to  sound  the  name  right. 
Such  is  genius !  .  .  .  A  man  had  been  bankrupt 
eight  times,  each  time  paying  two  shillings  and  sixpence 
in  the  pound.  He  then  declared  that  as  eight  half- 
crowns  made  a  sovereign,  he  had  paid  twenty  shillings 
in  the  pound.  ...  Is  not  this  a  neat  way  of  calling  a 
man  a  liar  ?  It  was  a  witness  who  contradicted  the  last 
witness.  Being  asked  to  explain  how  the  latter  could 
have  said  what  he  did,  he  pleasingly  remarked,  '  That 

Mr. 's  mind  was  so  unfortunately  constituted  that 

he  was  unable  to  recognise  the  harmony  that  should 
exist  between  words  and  facts.* 

*'  I  shall  adopt  this  formula. 

"  Unaware    that    I    have    other    matter    for    your 
honour's  attention, 

''  I  remain,  with  befitting  respect, 
''  Yours  grumpily, 

*'  Plantagenet  Brooks.'* 

150 


''  SHEGOG  " 

Here  also  is  "  The  Epistle  of  Shegog/'  written  by 
Shirley  to  Mr.  Frith,  which  I  have  permission  to  quote 
from  the  ''  Reminiscences."  It  is  certainly  very 
frivolous  and  perhaps  undignified,  but  it  must  be 
remembered  in  extenuation  that  it  was  written  for 
private  consumption. 

"Chapter  I 
"  Now  the  word  of  Cottle  came  unto  me,  even  me, 
Shegog,  saying,  Come,  and  eat  flesh,  and  drink  wine, 
which  maketh  glad  the  heart  of  man,  and  impertinent 
the  tongue  of  woman.  Then  I  took  counsel  of  myself, 
and  said.  The  man,  even  Cottle,  is  a  good  man,  and  an 
affable  ;  moreover  his  harem  hath  found  favour  in 
mine  eyes,  and  his  child  is  comely.  And  I  arose  and 
went  unto  my  wife,  which  came  from  the  island  that 
is  beyond  the  western  sea,  and  I  said  unto  her,  Lo  ! 
And  she  replied.  Is  thy  servant  a  cow  that  she  should 
do  this  thing  ?  And  again  I  said  unto  her,  Lo ! 
{Veau  ?  W.  P.  F.)  And  she  answered,  saying.  It  is 
in  the  glass  jug  on  the  sideboard.  And  I  said  unto  her 
the  third  time,  Lo  !  And  she  answered,  saying,  Low, 
dear  boy,  who  is  low  ?  Then  did  my  wrath  blaze  out 
like  the  fire  when  it  consumeth  thorns,  and  I  said  unto 
her.  Thou  speakest  as  one  of  the  foolish  women 
speaketh.  Have  I  not  told  thee  three  times  to  look 
at  this  letter,  even  this  scroll,  which  is  written  by  the 
man  Cottle,  which  useth  pigments,  and  maketh  the  faces 
of  the  princes  of  the  people,  and  the  chief  lords  thereof  ? 
Likewise  the  highway  robber,  the  man  Claude  Duval, 
and  the  httle  child  which  showeth  her  fat  Httle  legs  to 
the  sea,  even  the  Ramsgate  sea.  Then  the  woman 
which  is  of  the  western  islands  answered,  saying. 
Almost  thou  persuadest  me  to  be  a  Christian  ;  never- 
theless, give  me  the  letter.  And  I  spread  the  letter 
before  the  woman. 

151 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

"Chapter  II 

"  Now  when  she  had  read  the  letter,  which  was  written 
in  a  strange  tongue,  hke  unto  that  of  Cerberus,  the 
dog  of  hell,  for  it  was  three  tongues,  and  all  of  them 
—  bad,  I  said  unto  her.  Cheer  up.  Art  thou  not 
my  wife  ?  And  she  answered,  saying.  Even  so,  wus 
luck  ;  but  that  is  not  the  matter.  Didst  thou  not  say 
unto  them  that  dwell  by  Clapham  (where,  also,  the 
Quakers  dwell)  that  thou  wouldst  eat  flesh  and  drink 
wine  with  them  on  the  Sabbath  day,  even  the  fourth 
Sabbath  in  the  season  which  is  called  Lent,  because  it  is 
borrowed  from  the  woman  in  scarlet  ?  And  did  I  not 
beseech  thee,  saying.  Bind  not  thyself  unto  these,  for 
if  thou  dost,  assuredly  there  will  come  unto  thee  that 
which  is  better  ?  And  she  turned  and  went  away 
in  a  rage. 

"  Chapter  III 

"Then  I,  even  I,  Shegog,  went  into  my  own  place. 
And  I  drew  forth  a  weed,  even  a  roll  of  the  plant  that 
Cometh  from  the  West,  and  I  burned  the  weed  before 
the  brazen  image  which  Punchikadnezzar  the  king 
had  set  up.  And  peace  flowed  into  my  mind,  and 
righteousness  came  in  upon  my  soul.  Nevertheless, 
I  tarried  certain  time,  for  I  said.  Who  am  I,  that  I 
should  be  blowed  up  by  the  wife  of  my  bosom  ?  But 
when  the  burnt  sacrifice  had  been  fully  offered,  I 
went  forth  and  called,  saying  in  a  loud  voice,  Hi !  Hi ! 

"  Chapter  IV 

"  And  a  voice  came  unto  me,  yea,  a  pleasant  voice,  and 
it  answered,  saying,  But  now  thou  saidest,  Lo  !  Which 
is  it,  I  pray  thee,  tell  me  truly,  for  am  I  not  thy  wife, 
and  one  of  a  thousand  ?  And  I  said  unto^myself,  but 
meekly,  I  would  altogether  that  thou  wert ;  howbeit, 
I  have  but  one.     Then  I  said  unto  her.  Is  all  serene  ? 

152 


MR.   FRITH 

and  she  said,  All  is  serene.  Nevertheless,  I  am  sorry 
for  the  word  which  thou  gavest  unto  them  which  dwell 
by  Clapham.  Then  I  answered,  saying,  Verily,  the 
wind  bloweth  where  it  listeth,  and  Shegog  dineth 
where  he  liketh.  And  I  wunk  a  wink  at  her.  Then 
I  said,  I  will  write  a  lying  epistle  unto  them  which 
dwell  at  Clapham,  and  will  tell  them  a  lie,  even  a  —  lie, 
and  we  will  go  unto  the  man  Cottle,  and  unto  his  wife, 
which  is  deservedly  called  Belle,  and  unto  his  pleasant 
child,  and  we  will  eat  flesh,  and  our  souls  shall  bless 
him.  And  she  said.  Die  in  peace,  for  we  will  dine  with 
the  man  Cottle.'' 

There  are  other  delightful  letters  from  Shirley  to 
Mr.  Frith  published  in  the*'  Reminiscences,"*  to  which 
I  would  refer  my  readers. 

*  "  My  Autobiography  and  Reminiscences,"  by  William  Powell 
Frith,  R.A.     1887-8. 


153 


CHAPTER  X 

1857-1860 — ^Tennyson's  Bust  and  Trinity  College,  Cambridge — 
"The  British  Lion's  Vengeance  on  the  Bengal  Tiger'" — 
"  Amusing  Poetry  " — Death  of  Douglas  Jerrold — John  Cordy 
Jeaffreson — Birth  of  Cecil  Brooks — Autograph  Hunters — 
Shirley's  Bust  in  the  Academy — Once  a  Week — ^Napoleon 
III  as  the  "  French  Porcupine " — Death  of  Macaulay — 
Percival  Leigh  —  Spiritualism  —  Shirley  as  Lecturer  —  The 
Volunteer  Association — "  The  Silver  Cord  " — His  Short- 
comings as  Novelist — Thackeray — Miss  Annie  Thackeray 
(Mrs.  Ritchie). 


EW  works  of  art  executed  in 
the  year  1857  attracted  more 
attention  than  the  bust  of 
Tennyson  by  Thomas  Woolner. 
Two  years  later  it  was  presented 
to  Trinity  College,  Cambridge, 
but  was  excluded  by  the 
authorities  from  the  Ubrary 
on  the  plea  that  there  was 
no  precedent  for  paying  the 
honour  of  inclusion  to  a  living 
person. 
This  gave  Punch,  at  the  hands  of  Shirley  Brooks, 
the  opportunity  of  publishing  one  of  the  best  parodies 
of  the  poet's  style  ever  written.  I  have  not  space  for 
more  than  a  part.  The  whole  may  be  found  in  the 
issue  for  Nov.  12th,  1859. 

154 


TENNYSON 

"THE  LAUREATE'S  BUST   AT   TRINITY. 
(A  Fragment  of  an  Idyll.) 

"  So  that  stately  bust  abode 
For  many  a  month,  unseen,  among  the  Dons. 

)|c  4t  ♦  *  *  * 

...  *  for,'  said  one, 
*  It  is  too  soon,'  and  when  they  heard  the  phrase, 
Others  caught  up  the  cue,  and  chorussed  it. 
Until,  the  poet  echoing  '  Soon  ?    too  soon  ?  ' 
As  if  in  wrath,  Whewell  looked  up  and  said : — 
*  O  Laureate,  if  indeed  you  list  to  try. 
Try  and  unfix  our  purpose  in  this  thing.' 
Whereat  full  shrilly  sang  th'  excluded  bard — 

"  '  Soon,  soon,  so  soon  !     Whewell  looks  stern  and  chill, 
Soon,  soon,  so  soon  !   but  I  can  enter  still.' 
'  Too  soon,  too  soon  !   You  cannot  enter  now.' 


<(  ( 


I  am  not  dead :    of  that  I  do  repent. 
But  to  my  living  prayer,  oh,  now  relent ' : 

*  Too  soon,  too  soon  !     You  cannot  enter  now.' 

**  *  Honour  in  life  is  sweet :   my  fame  is  wide, 
Let  me  to  stand  at  Dryden's,  Byron's  side.' 

*  Too  soon,  too  soon  !     You  cannot  enter  now.' 

"  *  Honour  that  comes  in  Ufe  is  rare  and  sweet : 
I  cannot  taste  it  long,  for  life  is  fleet.' 

*  No,  no,  too  soon  !     You  cannot  enter  now.' 

"  So  sang  the  Laureate,  while  all  stonily, 
Their  chins  upon  their  hands,  as  men  that  had 
No  entrails  to  be  moved,  sat  the  stern  Dons." 

The  fact  was  that  there  was  a  suspicion  amongst  a 
section  of  the  Fellows  that  Tennyson's  final  reputation 
was  not  sufficiently  assured.  Therefore  for  the  time 
being  it  was  placed  in  the  vestibule  of  the  library. 
Later  on,  when  his  position  seemed  irrevocably  secure, 
it  was  removed  into  the  Library  proper.     This  was 

155 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

done  in  the  poet's  lifetime,  which  goes  to  prove  that  the 
original  plea,  that  he  was  not  yet  dead,  was  hardly 
sincere. 

The  year  1857  was  marked  by  one  of  those  contribu- 
tions which,  as  in  the  case  of  Jerrold's  '*  Mrs.  Caudle," 
and  Thackeray's  ''  Snobs,''  and  ''  Jeames's  Diary," 
suddenly  brought  about  an  increase  in  Mr.  Punches 
circulation.  The  chief  merit  of  one  of  the  finest 
cartoons  that  ever  appeared  in  these  pages  of  course 
lies  with  Sir  John  Tenniel,  but  the  idea  of  '*  The  British 
Lion's  Vengeance  on  the  Bengal  Tiger "  originated 
with  Shirley  Brooks.  It  is,  and  wiU  remain,  one  of 
the  great  political  cartoons  of  the  world.  Instinct 
with  the  fiercest  passion  and  indignation,  it  yet  perhaps 
stirs  us  more  by  its  sublimity  and  pathos.  The  Indian 
Mutiny,  the  massacre  at  Delhi,  the  siege  and  the  terrible 
and  just  retribution  taken  by  Colonel  Neill,  the  relief 
of  Lucknow  by  Colin  Campbell,  the  unspeakable 
horrors  of  Cawnpore  are  all  matters  of  history.  Who 
can  ever  forget  the  awful  description  of  the  last  by  one 
of  the  officers  ? 

**  I  was  directed,"  he  wrote,  ''  to  the  house  where  all 
the  poor  miserable  ladies  had  been  murdered.  .  .  . 
The  place  was  one  mass  of  blood.  I  am  not  exagger- 
ating when  I  teU  you  that  the  soles  of  my  boots  were 
more  than  covered  with  the  blood  of  these  poor  wretched 
creatures.  Portions  of  their  dresses,  collars,  children's 
socks  and  ladies'  round  hats  lay  about  saturated  with 
their  blood  ;  and  in  the  sword  cuts  on  the  wooden 
pillars  of  the  room  long  dark  hair  was  carried  by  the 
edge  of  the  weapon.  .  .  .  Their  bodies  were  after- 
wards dragged  out  and  thrown  down  a  well  outside 

156 


Reproduced  by  kind  permission  of  the  Proprietors  of  "  Punch" 

THE    BRITISH    LION'S   VENGE 
by   Sir  J 


lE    ON    THE    BENGAL   TIGER 
^Tenniel 


"AMUSING  POETRY" 

the  building  where  their  limbs  were  to  be  seen  sticking 
out  in  a  mass  of  gory  confusion." 

All  thatj  and  how  much  more,  was  in  the  minds  of 
the  Punch  men  and  the  country.  And  no  one  ever 
more  successfully  focussed  public  opinion  than  did 
John  Tenniel  on  those  two  immortal  pages. 

This  year  Shirley  edited  for  Messrs.  Lambert  &  Co. 
a  pretty  little  volume  of  *'  Amusing  Poetry/*  which 
eventually  ran  into  several  editions.  From  the  preface 
we  learn  that  the  book  did  not  merely  represent  his 
personal  choice,  but  also  reflected  ''  the  minds  of  a 
considerable  number  of  suggestive  and  co-operative 
friends."  The  only  point  upon  which  he  felt  any 
difiiculty  in  defending  the  selection  was  that  it  con- 
tained three  contributions  by  himself.  But  he  dis- 
armed criticism  by  resting  his  defence  on  the  score  that 
there  were  only  three,  and  by  quoting  a  good  story  : — 

"  I  remember,"  he  says,  *'  the  story  of  a  gentleman 
who  discovered  that  his  housekeeper  had  for  a  long 
time  been  cheating  him  in  her  summing  up  of  the 
tradesmen's  bills.  She  had  turned  every  0  into  6, 
by  adding  a  tail.  He  duly  stormed,  and  threatened 
her  with  the  Old  Bailey,  but  was  mollified  by  her  plea 
that  she  could  just  as  easily  have  changed  the  cipher 
into  9,  it  would  only  have  been  the  turning  the  tail  the 
other  way  !  " 

Shirley's  three  contributions  were :  **  The  Philosopher 
and  her  Father,"  p.  3  ;  ''  Christmas  in  War-Time  " 
(1854),  p.  56  ;  and  ''  A  Vision  of  the  Crystal  Palace  " 
(June  10th,  1854),  p.  217. 

This  year  Shirley,  with  all  the  other  Punch  men, 
stood  at  the  graveside  of  Douglas  Jerrold.     Long  ago 

157 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

the  older  man  had  forgiven  the  younger  for  his  rather 
bitter  attack  in  the  Man  in  the  Moon,  beginning 
.  "I  hate  the  humbug  of  the  '  wrongs  of  the  poor  man  ' 
style  of  writing/'  and  Shirley  was  not  least  dear  of 
those  to  whom  he  sent  his  dying  message,  *'  Tell  the 
dear  boys  that  if  IVe  ever  wounded  any  of  them,  IVe 
always  loved  them/' 

Twelve  years  later  Shirley  saw  in  the  paper  the  death 
of  the  doctor  who  had  attended  Jerrold  at  the  last, 
and  noted :  ''  This  is  the  man  whose  non-comprehension 
was  thought,  rightly  or  wrongly,  to  have  lost  us  that 
friend.  His  name  recalls  the  sad  day  when  I  went 
up  to  see  D.  J.,  June  8th,  1857,  not  knowing  of  his 

illness,  and  found  him  dying.     I   never  liked . 

I  thought  him  bumptious  and  a  pretender,  but  I  knew 
too  little  of  him  to  be  certain.  I  (once)  obliged  him 
with  some  verses.  .  .  .     He  never  obliged  me.** 

The  verses  referred  to  were  written  for  a  large 
gathering  at  Clunn's  Hotel  on  April  25th,  1863,  when 
Thackeray  presided  at  the  Shakespeare  dinner  of 
''  Our  Club,'*  of  which  the  doctor  was  a  member.  An 
account  of  this,  probably  the  last  grand  dinner  over 
which  Thackeray  presided,  is  to  be  found  in  J.  C. 
Jeaffreson's  "  Book  of  Recollections."  The  verses 
are  feeble  and  not  worth  preserving.  Thackeray  was 
supported  on  his  right  hand  by  Shirley,  and,  according 
f  to  Jeaffreson,  who  hated  him,  took  part  in  a  little 
scene  at  the  close  of  the  festivity.  Thackeray,  he  says, 
believed  him  (Jeaffreson)  to  be  the  author  of  an  adverse 
criticism  of  **  The  Story  of  Elizabeth,"  written  by 
Thackeray's  elder  daughter.     In  this  Thackeray  was 

158 


AUTOGRAPH-HUNTERS 

wrong,  but  (I  quote  Jeaffreson's  own  words),  ''  as  he 
passed  out  of  the  room,  with  Shirley  Brooks  at  his 
elbow,  (he)  bowed  sHghtly  and  stiffly  to  me,  whilst 
Shirley  Brooks  regarded  me  with  a  look  of  exultation  !  *' 
Readers  of  Jeaffreson's  querulous  and  pawky  book 
will  wonder  whether  this  was  not  all  imagination  on 
the  part  of  one  whose  self-importance  was  for  ever  dis- 
covering meaning  in  the  least  significant  of  actions.  If 
Thackeray  was  angry,  why  did  he  bow  at  all  ?  and  did 
Shirley  really  express  all  that  Jeaffreson  says  he 
did  by  one  passing  look  ? 

In  August  of  this  year  Shirley's  second  son,  Cecil, 
was  born,  and  in  September  he  paid  his  first  visit  to 
the  Lemons  at  their  house  at  Crawley,  where  he  was 
ever  after  one  of  the  most  welcome  of  guests. 

Shirley  was  now  a  sufficiently  imposing  figure  in  the 
literary  world  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  autograph 
hunters.  In  a  characteristic  note  of  an  earlier  date, 
pasted  in  the  before-mentioned  presentation  copy  of 
'*  Aspen  Court,''  I  find  him  humorously  contemplating 
the  possibility  of  a  certain  value  attaching  to  his 
signature.  Horace  Mayhew  had  written  on  May  27th, 
1856  :— 

'*  New  Inn, 

"  Wych  St.,  Strand. 
**  Dear  Shirley, 

''  Come  down  to-morrow  to  the  Derby  outside  a 
coach.  They  start  in  dozens  from  my  door — only  a 
sovereign  apiece.  Come  .  .  .  quick,  I  am  waiting 
for  you. 

"  Yours  (expecting  your  corporeal  '  yes  *), 

''  H0EATIU3/' 
15© 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

And  Shirley  had  scribbled  on  the  back  : — 

*'  Not  a  bit  of  it,  you  extravagant  Croesus ;  if  I  go 
I  shall  go  for  4s.  by  rail,  and  sponge  on  the  Philistines. 
If  it's  fine  and  warm  look  out  for 

"S.  B. 

"  I  have  not  one  d d  scrap  of  note-paper.    What 

would  the  world  give  for  two  such  hautographs  ?  '' 

Now,  two  years  later,  he  received  a  formal  application, 
and  the  applicant,  Mr.  W.  H.  Doeg,  is  generous  enough 
not  only  to  lend  me  his  reply,  but  also  to  face  the 
condemnation  which  commonly  attaches  to  such 
demands.  And  I  think  we  can  forgive  him  when  we 
realise  how  very  young  he  must  have  been  at  the  time. 
Shirley,  as  usual,  shows  great  ingenuity  in  his  response. 

S.  B.  TO  Mr.  W.  H.  Doeg. 

"  The  Temple, 

"  Oct,  22nd,  1858. 

'*  Dear  Sir, 

'*  I  am  not  a  '  distinguished  man,'  but  the 
distinguished  service  which  you  did  in  the  days  of 
Saul,  commemorated  in  the  18th  verse  of  the  22nd 
chapter  of  the  first  book  of  Samuel,  precludes  me  from 
disobeying  your  desire. 

"  I  am,  dear  Sir, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 
"  Shirley  Brooks. 
''  Mr.  Doeg, 

"  Edom,  etc.,  etc.*' 

The  allusion  is  of  course  to  Doeg,  the  Edomite,  who 
'*  fell  upon  the  priests,  and  slew  .  .  .  fourscore  and 
five  persons  that  did  wear  the  Hnen  ephod.*'    Shirley 

160 


THE   '*  LITERARY   GAZETTE" 

had  no  great  love  for  priests  as  a  class,  although,  as  we 
shall  see,  there  were  some  notable  exceptions. 

Later,  attacks  from  autograph-hunters  became 
something  of  a  nuisance,  but  he  could  never  find  it  in 
his  heart  to  refuse  their  flattering,  though  troublesome, 
demands. 

Here  is  an  entry  on  the  subject  in  his  diary  for  1871, 
which  carries  a  wholesome  lesson  with  it,  and  one  which 
I  would  beg  all  autograph  hunters  and  unknown 
correspondents  to  lay  to  heart. 

*'  Somebody,  Algernon  O.  Simon,  London  University, 
no,  University  College,  writes  for  autograph,  but  sends 
no  envelope.  Told  him  he  owed  me  a  penny,  and  was 
to  pay  it  to  the  first  ragged  child  he  saw.** 

The  only  other  events  calling  for  mention  this  year 
were  the  appearance  of  Shirley's  bust  in  the  Royal 
Academy  Exhibition,  and  his  acceptance  of  the 
editorship  of  the  Literary  Gazette.  The  bust  was  \ 
numbered  1288  in  the  Royal  Academy  catalogue, 
and  was  one  of  several  exhibited  by  a  certain  Mr.  J.  E. 
Jones,  whose  fame  is  unknown  to  me.  I  have  been 
unable  to  trace  its  present  whereabouts,  if  indeed  it  is 
still  in  existence.  The  fact  of  its  execution  is  only 
worth  mentioning  as  an  indication  of  Shirley's 
increasing  importance  in  the  world. 

His  appointment  to  the  editorship  of  the  Literary  i 
Gazette  on  the  other  hand  was  a  matter  of  considerable 
moment.  Not  only  was  it  a  still  further  call  upon  his 
already  highly-taxed  energies,  but  it  was  a  further  proof 
of  the  esteem  in  which  he  was  held  by  the  proprietors 
of  Punch. 

161 

13— (2297) 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

The  Literary  Gazette  was  starting  on  a  new  lease  of 
life,  and  Shirley  was  chosen  by  Messrs.  Bradbury  and 
Evans,  who  now  had  a  part  interest  in  it,  to  be  the 
first  editor  of  its  *'  new  series/' 

The  following  letter,  referring  to  his  proposed  conduct 
of  the  paper,  has  been  put  at  my  disposal  by  the 
kindness  of  Mr.  Lawrence  Bradbury  : — 

S.  B.  TO  F.  M.  Evans. 

*'  29/^  November,  1858. 

''  My  dear  Evans, 

''  I  am  not  going  to  write  you  a  long  letter,  but 
I  could  wish  you  to  give  your  thought  to  what  I  am 
going  to  say,  before  we  meet. 

*'  The  first  of  the  conversations — articles  (I  have  a 
name  for  them,  of  which  more  anon)  is  in  the  printers* 
hands,  but  I  do  not  wish  you  to  see  it  until  I  have  read 
and  revised  it,  which  I  shall  do  the  first  thing  to-morrow 
morning,  D.V.  It  is  necessarily  introductory,  and 
therefore  unlike,  except  in  form,  what  I  propose  to 
make  its  successors,  but  I  have  designed  and  named 
a  set  of  dramatis  personce^  and  indicated  their  cha- 
racters, and  my  machinery,  and  have  met  divers 
enquiries  and  objections.  It  seemed  necessary  to  be, 
at  the  outset,  somewhat  business-like,  lest  dull  folks 
should  fear  flightiness  and  flippancy.  When  on  the 
hne  we  can  put  on  the  steam. 

*'  What  I  am  undertaking  is,  however,  not  a  light 
matter.  It  is  an  undertaking,  on  my  part,  to  supply 
every  week,  for  I  hope  many  a  year  of  success,  a 
dramatic  paper,  on  all  subjects,  written  as  well  as  I  can 
write  it,  and  on  which  my  own  reputation,  laboriously 
earned,  will  depend.  It  will  be  known  by  everybody 
to  be  mine,  and  mine  only.     It  will  therefore  be,  as  a 

162 


THE   **  LITERARY   GAZETTE" 

matter  of  duty  to  you  and  to  myself,  the  great  business 
of  my  week,  and  towards  which  my  reading,  memo- 
randa, social  gleanings,  etc.,  etc.,  will  mainly  refer. 
In  a  word,  it  is  a  weekly  serial  by  5.  B. 

"  I  accept  the  work  gladly,  but  with  a  full  sense  of 
its  importance.  I  am  in  no  degree  afraid  of  it. — I  have 
a  sort  of  specialite  for  dialogue,  and  I  have  had 
dramatic  experiences.  For  the  rest,  I  trust  myself 
duly  qualified. 

''  But  it  is  a  novelty,  and  one  which  will  call  up  a 
host  of  objections  (and  remonstrances  perhaps)  while 
it  is  making  its  way  to  the  success  I  hope  for  it. 

'*  If,  therefore,  on  consideration,  the  proprietary 
elect  to  adopt  this  feature,  I  shall  frankly  rely  upon 
my  friend  Bradbury  and  yourself  for  backing  me  up 
against  the  cavils,  or  timidities,  or  prejudices  of  others, 
either  proprietors  or  not.  And  I  know,  thoroughly 
well,  that  I  shall  have  it.  I  am  resolved,  so  far  as  in 
me  lies,  to  make  the  L.  G. — I  wish  to  Heaven  it  was 
for  B.  &  E.  only  that  I  was  going  into  harness,  but 
n'importe  pour  cela,  while  B.  &  E.  and  S.  B.  are  one. 
I  address  this  to  you,  because  you  administer  the 
journal,  but  the  statements  are  addressed  to  Bradbury 
equally  with  yourself. 

'*  And  so,  believe  me, 

"  My  dear  Evans, 

'*  Yours  always  faithfully, 
''  Shirley  Brooks. 
"  F.  M.  Evans,  Esq." 

According  to  the  verdict  of  a  contemporary  paper, 
which  may  be  taken  for  what  it  is  worth,  Shirley 
greatly  enhanced  the  reputation  of  the  Literary  Gazette, 
But  his  connection  with  it  was  short-Hved  and  for 

163 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

some  reason  or  other  was  abruptly  terminated  in  the 
following  year.  Indeed,  the  position  of  editor  of  that 
journal  would  seem  to  have  been  curiously  insecure, 
for  there  followed  him  no  fewer  than  six  occupants 
of  the  chair  in  the  four  years  which  preceded  its 
incorporation,  in  1862,  with  the  Parthenon. 

But  Shirley's  superfluous  energies  were  not  long 
destined  to  remain  unoccupied. 

The  year  1859  found  him  taking  a  prominent  part 
in  the  initiation  of  Messrs.  Bradbury  &  Evans's  new 
venture.  Once  a  Week,  which  was  to  fill  the  gap  caused 
by  the  discontinuance  of  Charles  Dickens's  Household 
Words.  Edited  by  Samuel  Lucas,  and  illustrated 
mainly  by  the  Punch  artists,  it  is  now  a  mine  of  wealth 
to  all  interested  in  the  black-and-white  work  of  '*  the 
sixties."  The  title  was  one  of  Shirley's  happy  thoughts, 
and  the  introductory  poem  beginning  ''  Adsumus," 
a  rather  wishy-washy  performance  it  must  be  admitted, 
was  from  his  pen.  The  only  notable  thing  about  it 
is  that  in  each  of  the  eleven  verses  he  ingeniously  finds 
a  fresh  rhyme  for  the  title  of  the  magazine,  thus,  from 
the  outset,  impressing  it  upon  the  ears  of  the  public. 
A  year  later,  and  we  shall  find  him  the  most  prominent 
contributor  to  its  pages. 

The  mysterious  conduct  of  the  French  Emperor  was 
now  creating  considerable  mistrust  in  the  country. 
Louis  Napoleon's  protestations  of  peaceableness  were 
held  to  be  incompatible  with  his  warlike  attitude. 
Here  is  a  leaf  from  Mr.  Silver's  note-book  which  tells 
how  the  idea  for  Leech's  remarkable  cartoon  entitled 
*'  The  French  Porcupine ;    he  may  be  an  Inoffensive 

164 


"THE  FRENCH   PORCUPINE" 

Animal,  but  he  Don't  Look  like  it/'  was  hammered  out 
at  the  table.* 

"  In  general/'  writes  Mr.  Silver,  ''  Wednesday  was 
our  dinner  day,  but  it  was  sometimes  changed  to 
Thursday,  as  was  the  case  upon  the  10th  of  February, 
in  the  year  '  fifty-nine.'  Leech  told  us  then  he  wanted 
*  something  simple  '  in  the  way  of  the  Big  Cut,  for  he 
was  going  out  of  town  for  a  day's  hunting  with  Tenniel. 
So  the  good  '  Professor  '  thought  of  a  '  shm  '  Yankee 
crying  to  a  Spanish  Don  with  a  cheroot  in  his  hand, 
'  What'U  yew  take  for  that  ar'  Cuba  ?  '  a  suggestion 
which  may  now  seem  to  have  been  prophetic.  But 
the  French  were  then  ebullient,  and  Shirley  was  for 
picturing  their  Emperor  with  his  sword  drawn — *  You 
can  draw  a  sword,  you  know.  Leech  ' — sitting  on  a 
powder  barrel  and  smoking  the  pipe  of  peace.  *  Yes, 
that's  easy  enough,'  says  Leech,  '  but  how  can  people 
know  that  it  is  the  pipe  of  peace,  unless  I  put  a  label 
on  it,  and  that  would  look  ridiculous  ?  '  And  then 
the  happy  thought  occurred  to  him  of  picturing  the 
Emperor  as  *  The  French  Porcupine,'  all  bristling  with 
bayonets.  *  Ah,  you've  hit  it  now,'  cries  Shirley, 
'  there's  plenty  of  point  there  !  '  And  next  day  Leech 
did  the  cartoon  in  a  couple  of  hours'  work,  and  then 
lunched  quietly  and  met  Tenniel  at  King's  Cross  for 
the  1.45  to  Baldock.  Sure  of  hand,  he  drew  the  figure 
on  the  wood  block,  without  making  any  sketch  for  it, 
as  he  had  before  done  Mr.  Punch's  Fancy  Ball,  which 
was  far  more  elaborate,  but  the  dozen  or  so  of  figures 
were  drawn  within  three  hours." 

The  following  letter  shows  that  by  1860  the  Brookses 
had  moved  to  22  Brompton  Square.  The  ''  lines  about 
Macaulay,"  who  had  died  on  the  28th  of  December, 

*  Vide  Punch,  Vol.  XXXVI,  p.  74. 

165 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

appeared  on  the  first  page  of  Punch's  new  volume, 
printed  in  old  English  type,  and  run  as  follows  : — 
"  O  dying  year,  didst  wreak  thy  latest  scoff 

On  those  who,  wearied  with  thee,  bade  thee  go. 
And,  parting,  didst  with  palsied  hand  strike  off 

The  noblest  name  our  Golden  Book  could  show  ? 
Vain  spite  !     Self-branded,  thou  shalt  pass  away. 

Bearing  his  life  whose  fame  was  England's  pride, 
But  through  the  ages  English  tongues  shall  say 
*  That  year  !   an  ill  one.     Then  Macaulay  died/  " 

The  ''  medical  meeting ''  referred  to  was  supposed 
to  have  been  called  together  *'  for  the  purpose  of 
considering  the  propriety  of  presenting  a  testimonial 
from  the  Profession  to  the  Clerk  of  the  Weather/'  to 
whom  they  wished  to  return  thanks  for  the  prevailing 
influenza  epidemic. 

''  Truly/'  says  Dr.  Emulgent,  ''  they  [the  doctors] 
ought  to  be  thankful,  for  never  was  there  so  much 
sickness  about — not  dangerous,  mind  you,  for  that  it 
would  be  wrong  to  be  glad  of,  besides  it  being  difficult 
to  deal  with,  but  that  sort  of  very  troublesome,  irritat- 
ing, disagreeable  illness  that  made  everybody  fidgetty 
and  frightened,  unless  the  medical  man  was  constantly 
in  the  house." 

*'  Letters  of  Excuse  "  refers  to  an  article  entitled 
'*  A  New  Literary  Invention,"  for  which  the  curious 
reader  must  be  referred  to  the  pages  of  Punch  (Jan.  7th, 
1860,  p.  12). 

S.  B.  TO  Percival  Leigh. 

"  22  Brompton  Square,  S.W., 

"  January  3rd,  1860. 

*'  My  dear  Leigh, 

"  I  was  very  glad  indeed  to  receive  your  note, 
and  heartily  do  I  wish  you  the  happiest  possible  new 

166 


PERCIVAL  LEIGH 

year.  If  anybody  deserves  one,  you  do,  for  your 
conscientious  work,  and  still  more  for  your  unselfish- 
ness and  self-sacrifice  to  the  comfort  of  others,  but  you 
know  what  I  think  about  this,  and  so  only  once  more, 
a  happy  1860  to  you. 

''  The  weather  is  hijus.  '  The  wind  is  roaring  in 
turret  and  tree,'  and  the  row  it  makes  down  here,  in  our 
open  back  is  perfectly  pestering.  But  I  look  on  a 
church  (of  England,  mind)  an  Oratory  (Popish),  and  the 
long  row  of  Brompton  Boilers,  which  is  the  best  of  all, 
and  the  pictures  highly-to-be-seen-before-lunch,  as 
I  hope  you  will  find  out  ere  long.  So  I  am  not  quite 
shut  up  in  the  red  box  called  a  street. 

''  I  hope  you  will  break  it  gently  to  Scamp,*  that 
in  future  his  master's  house  will  be  pervaded  by  a 
youth.  I  fear  that  it  will  be  too  much  for  S.  But 
Heaven  tempers  the  schoolboy  to  the  scratched  dog. 
In  other  respects  your  nevvy  is  to  be  envied,  and  I 
shall  impress  upon  him  that  you  have  the  freest 
admissions  to  pantomimes  and  whatever  else  is  best 
worth  his  notice. 

"  I  will  deliver  your  greetings  to  the  P.P.  f  to-morrow. 
I  have  eight  lines  in  Punch  about  Macaulay,  which 
I  rather  hope  you  will  like  ;  also  the  *  Letters  of 
Excuse  '  ;  also  the  '  Medical  Meetings,'  etc.,  etc.,  for  I 
have  worked  hard.  The  truth  is  that  Luke  Or  angel 
made  a  jolly  row  the  other  day,  for  he  was  reduced 
to  his  last  shred  of  copy  to  make  up  the  number,  and 
was  indeed  I  believe  driven  to  '  write  himself,'  while 
I  were  gorging  at  the  ^  Albion  *  in  Aldersgate  Street. 
This  touched  my  heart,  so  I  cut  away,  as  you  will  see. 

*  Leigh's  dog. 

f  P. P.,   Punch   people.    P.P.    was   embossed   on     the   Punch 
envelopes  and  probably,  Mr.  Silver  thinks,  stood  for  Punch  paper. 
I  Mark  Lemon. 

167 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

But  don*t  let  him  know  I  told  you  of  his  wrath,  as  he 
molUfied  afterwards. 

''  Write  again.  Can  I  send  you  any  newspaper  or 
anything  for  work  or  play  ?  Say  so,  if  so.  My  wife 
adds  her  best  regards.  Give  mine  to  your  brother, 
with  all  New  Year  greetings. 

'*  Ever  yours  faithfully, 

*'  Shirley  Brooks.*' 

From  the  year  1860  onwards,  Shirley,  following  the 
example  of  many  of  the  Punch  men,  appeared  from 
time  to  time  as  a  public  lecturer.  One  of  the  most 
I  popular  of  his  discourses  had  the  House  of  Commons 
for  its  subject,  and  was  given  for  the  first  time  at 
Leicester  on  the  19th  of  March  of  this  year. 

The  notorious  Daniel  Dunglas  Home,  the  spiritualistic 
medium,  was  now  the  talk  of  Europe,  and  both  Once  a 
Week  and  Punch  busied  themselves  with  exposing  what 
they  considered  to  be  his  charlatanry.  *'  Recent  Spirit- 
Rappings,**  and  a  series  entitled  '*  Spirit-Rapping 
made  Easy,'*  appeared  this  year  in  the  former,  and  in 
the  latter  amongst  other  typical  articles  was  *'  Mr. 
Punch  as  a  Spirit-Rapper  *'  (June  9th,  1860). 

On  July  2nd  Shirley  wrote  to  Percival  Leigh  : — 

*'  We  have  made  the  Spiritualists  unhappy,  and  their 
rejoinder  this  month  is  miserably  weak.  However, 
I  think  that  the  Lord  has  dehvered  them  into  our 
hands,  for  they  attack  Leech  personally  (though  civilly), 
and  allege  that,  though  he  has  seen  a  lot  of  things  in  the 
spiritual  line  which  he  can't  explain,  he  caricatures. 
I  hope  he  will  come  out  with  his  fat  medium." 

The  ''  fat  medium  "  refers  to  Leech's  caricature  of 
the  Emperor  Napoleon  HI,  which  had  appeared  on 

168 


SPIRITUALISM 

May  12th,  in  which  a  **  spirit  hand/*  obviously  a 
stuffed  glove  at  the  end  of  a  stick,  is  seen  coming  out 
of  the  clouds,  and,  as  Punch  afterwards  said,  *'  assisting 
the  Imperial  Nose  to  form  that  derisive  combination 
of  the  nasal  and  digital  organisations  which  is  vulgarly 
called  '  Taking  a  sight/  "  This  caricature  had  been 
suggested  by  the  following  passage  from  the  Spiritual 
Magazine  : — 

*'  Four  persons  were  sitting  together  at  the  Tuileries  : 
the  Emperor  and  the  Empress,  the  Duchess  de 
MoNTEBELLO,  and  Mr.  Home.  A  pen  and  ink  were 
on  the  table,  and  some  paper.  A  Spirit-hand  was  seen, 
and  presently  it  took  up  the  pen,  and  in  their  sight  and 
presence  dipped  it  in  the  ink,  went  to  the  paper,  and 
wrote  upon  it  the  word  '  Napoleon,'  in  the  autograph 
of  the  great  Emperor.  The  Emperor  asked  if  he 
might  be  allowed  to  kiss  the  hand,  and  it  went  to  his 
lips,  and  then  to  those  of  the  Empress  ;  and  afterwards, 
on  Mr.  Home  making  a  humble  request,  he  was  per- 
mitted to  kiss  its  warm  and  soft  texture.  The  auto- 
graph is  now  among  the  valued  contents  of  the 
*  Emperor's  spiritual  portfolio.'  " 

At  first  Punch  laughed  at  Home  as  a  more  or  less 
harmless  impostor,  but  later  on,  when  he  got  mixed 
up  in  certain  very  shady  monetary  transactions,  he 
declared  himself  an  implacable  opponent. 

In  the  letter  quoted  above  Shirley  further  says, 
**  I  hope  you  have  seen  my  lines,  '  Victoria's  Midday 
Review.'  "  The  Queen  had  reviewed  eighteen  thou- 
sand of  her  lately  banded  citizen  soldiers  in  Hyde  Park, 
and  Shirley's  spirited  verses  beginning  : — 

169 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

"  They  tell  us  a  tale  that  we  dare  not  ignore, 
That  deep  in  a  glade  we  have  hunted  before 

A  Tiger  is  waiting  to  spring ; 
And  so  we  come  up  to  our  Queen  as  of  yore 

Our  fathers  came  up  to  their  King," 

struck  the  high  patriotic  note  which  was  echoed  by 
Punch  on  every  available  occasion.  True,  the  Volun- 
teers came  in  for  a  good  deal  of  harmless  chaff  at  his 
hands  bye  and  by,  but  only  in  a  friendly  manner  and 
in  the  way  of  business.  At  heart  he  was  profoundly 
moved  by  the  patriotism  and  self-denial  shown  by 
those  who  realised  the  imminent  possibiUty  of  a  French 
invasion. 

"  We  come  that  the  Lady  of  Kingdoms  may  know, 
In  the  day,  should  it  chance,  that  her  bugles  shall  blow 

She  shall  find  Hunter-Soldiers  astir  ; 
And  the  men  whom  her  signal  shall  launch  on  the  foe 
Shall  be  worthy  of  dying  for  Her." 

Shirley  was  not  a  second  Ram  Dass  with  fire  enough 
in  his  belly  to  bum  away  the  sins  of  the  whole  world, 
but  he  had  enough  fire  in  him  to  be  a  good  lieutenant 
to  Mr.  Punch  in  his  fight  for  what  was  high,  noble  and 
patriotic,  and  in  his  self-imposed  mission  of  laughing 
away  what  was  foolish,  bad  or  contemptible. 

Encouraged  by  the  success  of  *'  The  Gordian  Knot,'' 
and  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  he  was  more  and 
more  overwhelmed  with  newspaper  work,  Shirley  now 
embarked  on  another  serial  novel.  This  time  he 
worked  for  Messrs.  Bradbury  &  Evans,  and  ''  The 
Silver  Cord  *'  ran  from  November  16th,  1860,  for  ten 
months  in  their  newly  established  periodical.  Once  a 
Week,  where  again  he  had  the  valuable  co-operation 

170 


A  DEBAUCH   OF  LYING 

of  his  friend,  John  Tenniel.     Here  he  set  himself  to 
write  a  story,  *'  devoid  as  far  as  possible  of  description, 
either  moral  or  physical,   and  resting  its  claims  to    f  1^ 
attention  on  action  and  dialogue,  after  the  manner  of         ^ 
the  French  novels  of  the  day." 

Discussing  the  novel  on  its  appearance  in  book  form 
the  following  year,  when  it  was  shorn  of  its  chief 
attraction,  the  Tenniel  illustrations,  the  Illustrated 
Review  said,  ''  The  work  is  called  on  the  title-page 
'  A  Story  '  ;  it  might  more  accurately  have  been  dubbed 
'  A  Story  of  Stories.'  "  And  certainly  Oscar  Wilde 
himself  would  have  found  no  Decay  of  Lying  here. 
The  book  begins  with  Arthur  Lygon,  the  hero,  a  really 
fine  fellow,  telling  a  string  of  lies  to  his  servants  and 
children.  Then  he  goes  and  repeats  the  lies  to  a 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Berry.  Then  Mr.  Berry  lies  to  his  wife, 
and  immediately  after  to  Arthur  Lygon  himself,  all, 
be  it  said,  with  the  best  possible  motives.  The  orgy 
of  lying  is  now  in  full  swing.  Old  Mr.  Vernon  lies  to 
his  eldest  daughter.  Monsieur  Silvain,  the  perfumer, 
lies  to  Mrs.  Lygon ;  Henderson,  the  maid,  lies  to 
Laura.  Mrs.  Berry  Hes  to  Arthur.  Arthur  Hes  to 
Robert  Urquhart.  Bertha  lies  to  Arthur.  Laura's 
sister  lies  to  Laura.  Mrs.  Urquhart  lies  to  Henderson. 
Henderson  Hes  to  her  mistress.  Her  mistress  tells 
Henderson  to  lie  to  her  husband,  and  then  follows  suit 
and  lies  to  him  herself.  Price,  another  maid,  lies  to 
Mrs.  Berry.  She  also  lies  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hawkesley. 
Bertha  lies  to  everyone  she  comes  across.  And 
Monsieur  Wolowski  and  his  police  spy,  liars  by  pro- 
fession, fill  up  the  gaps  left  by  anybody  else.     Indeed, 

171 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

by  the  time  we  get  to  the  end  of  the  book  we  should 
be  hard  put  to  it  to  find  two  persons  who  had  not  hed 
the  one  to  the  other.  The  result  is  profound  dis- 
satisfaction on  the  part  of  the  reader,  who  wonders, 
when  the  end  comes,  whether  the  author  has  disen- 
tangled all  ''  the  well-selected  falsehoods,"  which  he, 
the  reader,  certainly  has  not. 

The  novel,  however,  attracted  a  great  deal  of  atten- 
tion, and  Shirley  was  inundated  during  its  progress 
with  suggestions  from  his  readers  as  to  what  he  should 
or  should  not  make  his  characters  do.  Two  persons 
separated  by  the  events  of  the  narrative  must  be 
reconciled.  This,  that,  and  the  other  expedient  for 
bringing  about  the  desired  re-union  are  tendered  to  the 
author.  One  particularly  remorseless  correspondent 
affectionately  urges  him  to  ''  kill  one  of  the  children  in 
order  to  reconcile  the  parents  across  its  tomb."  This 
he  absolutely  refuses  to  do  on  the  ground  '*  that  Herod 
had  of  late  been  too  rampant  among  the  children  of 
novels  to  justify  the  repetition  of  the  expedient. 
A  great  Master,"  he  continued,  *'  set  the  example 
and  did  it  so  exquisitely  that  his  inimitable  workman- 
ship should  have  warned  off  parodists,  but  a  Massacre 
of  the  Innocents  set  in,  and  happy  is  the  novel-reader 
who  gets  through  a  second  volume  without  weeping 
over  a  slain  child." 

Another  correspondent,  a  very  practical  person  this 
time,  desired  to  know  how  a  gentleman  in  a  public  office 
managed  to  stay  away  as  long  as  he  did  without 
forfeiting  his  situation.  To  this  Shirley  replied,  as  the 
French  critic  did,  when  asked  what  personal  attractions 

172 


"THE  SILVER  CORD" 

Penelope  could  have  had  for  Ulysses  after  all  those 
many  years  of  his  ramblings,  *'  that  it  would  be  well 
if  persons  would  attend  to  their  own  affairs  and  believe 
that  heroes  are  the  best  judges  of  their  own  business." 

But,  notwithstanding  his  jaunty  treatment  of  his 
correspondents,  he  was  in  reality  profoundly  dissatis- 
fied with  the  limitations  imposed  upon  him  by  serial 
publication,  and  determined  that  his  next,  and  what 
was  to  prove  his  last,  venture  of  the  kind  should  appear 
on  its  first  issue  in  book-form. 

Nor  were  his  friends  hitherto  much  impressed  by  his 
novels,  notwithstanding  their  success  with  the  public. 
They  were  not  as  good  as  they  anticipated.  They  were 
not  worthy  of  the  great  gifts  which  they  knew  he 
possessed.  The  fact  that  he  was  only  novel- writing 
in  his  spare  time  and  that  his  best  energies  were  sapped 
by  other  exacting  labours  was  either  ignored  or 
forgotten. 

As  Mr.  Frith  wrote  in  his  ''  Reminiscences  "  : — 

*'  I  confess  his  novels  were  disappointing  to  me. 
I  had  read  one,  '  Aspen  Court,*  I  think  ;  and  having, 
rather  hypocritically,  given  it  more  praise  than  I  fear 
it  deserved.  Brooks  said,  '  Wait  till  you  read  the 
**  Silver  Cord,"  my  boy  ;  that  will  improve  your  mind, 
if  it  is  not  too  far  gone  for  anything  wholesome  to  act 
upon  it.' 

**  The  '  Silver  Cord '  came,  and  took  its  place  upon 
the  drawing-room  table.  Brooks  called  one  day — 
some  time  after  he  had  presented  the  novel — caught 
sight  of  his  book,  took  it  up,  examined  it,  and,  with  an 
expression  I  shall  never  forget,  said,  as  he  threw  it 
down,  '  Not  even  cut.'  " 

173 


SHIRLEY   BROOKS 

The  book  had,  Hke  its  predecessors,  been  mostly 
written  at  Mark  Lemon's  house  at  Crawley,  whence 
he  wrote  to  Mr.  Evans  just  before  the  appearance  of 
the  first  instalment  : — 

"  I  am  making  good  use  of  my  time  here,  and 
therefore  do  not  wish  to  come  up  till  the  afternoon. 
I  send  up  a  line,  however,  to  say  that  I  am  at  work  on 
my  book,  that  on  Monday  the  first  portion  will  be  in 
the  printer's  hands,  and  I  suppose  he  will  hand  it  to 
Tenniel  on  Tuesday,  and  that  by  the  end  of  next  week, 
there  will  be  three  numbers  out  of  my  hands.  This  is 
all  I  could  say  if  I  came  up. 

''  I  don't  think  that  Mr.  Readers  or  Mr.  Meredith's 
shortcomings  have  anything  to  do  with  me,  though 
Lucas  seems  to  think  so,  and  speaks  of  them  as  having 
both  '  broken  down.'  I  am  not  going  to  break  down, 
D.V." 

The  reference  to  ''  Mr.  Reade's  and  Mr.  Meredith's 
shortcomings  "  has  a  certain  irony  about  it.  ''  Evan 
Harrington,"  Mr.  Meredith's  immortal  novel,  had  just 
ceased  running,  and  had  not  proved  a  popular  attrac- 
tion. Charles  Reade's  masterpiece,  *'  A  Good  Fight," 
afterwards  enlarged  into  *'  The  Cloister  and  the 
Hearth,"  had  preceded  it  and  had  fallen  equally  flat. 
And  Lucas,  the  editor,  was  looking  to  Shirley  Brooks 
to  revive  interest  in  the  magazine  with  ''  The  Silver 
Cord  !  "  Now,  "  The  Silver  Cord  "  is  broken  indeed, 
whilst ''  Evan  Harrington  "  and  *'  The  Cloister  and  the 
Hearth"  are  classics, and  have  taken  undisputed  places 
on  our  shelves. 

A  month  before  the  novel  started  on  its  serial  course 
Shirley  wrote  to  Miss  Betty  Lemon,  asking  for  her 

174 


LADY   ROMER 

judgment  upon  the  chosen  title  and  pointing  out  its 
similarity  to  that  of  the  earlier  novel,  "  The  Gordian 
Knot." 

S.  B.  TO  Miss  Betty  Lemon. 
(Now  Lady  Romer.) 

"  Once  a  Week  Office, 

"11  BouvERiE  St.,  Fleet  St., 
"  London,  E.C. 

"  Oct.  5th,  1860. 
'*  My  dear  Betty, 

''  The  opinion  of  Vine  Cottage  is  respectfully 
requested  in  favour  of  the  title  of  the  new  novel  by  the 
distinguished  personage  who  recently  occupied  the  best 
bedroom  in  that  establishment.  The  christening  has 
taken  place  this  day,  and  the  name  in  question  is,  you 
see,  still  in  the  Knot  line. 


**  Ever  yours  affectionately, 

'*  The  Silver  Cordwainer." 

To  this  I  may  append  the  following  sentence  from  a 
letter  written  to  me  by  Lady  Romer,  throwing  as  it 
does  a  side-light  on  the  surroundings  amidst  which 
the  book  was  written. 

**  Mr.  Brooks  stayed  frequently  with  my  father  and 
mother  when  I  was  young,  and  at  home,  and  he  entered 
into  all  the  fun  and  amusements  of  our  large  family 
in  a  way  that  very  few  men  of  his  position  would  have 
done,  and  we  were  all  so  fond  of  him,  and  so  proud  of 
the  interest  he  took  in  us.'* 

It  is  a  curious  commentary,  as  I  have  said,  upon  the 
contemporary  judgment  of  literature  and  upon  con- 
temporary taste  that  Lucas,  the  editor  of  Once  a  Week^ 

175 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

should  have  anticipated,  and  apparently  with  some 
reason,  that  a  novel  by  Shirley  Brooks  should  make  up 
for  "  the  shortcomings  ''  of  Mr.  Meredith  and  Charles 
Reade.  To  us  who  now  turn  over  the  pages  of  the 
bound  volumes  of  the  magazine  and  recognise  how 
finely  matched  were  author  and  artist  in  *'  Evan 
Harrington  *' — Charles  Keene,  as  great  an  artist  in 
black-and-white  as  George  Meredith  in  pungent 
satire — it  is  nothing  less  than  a  mystery  that  '*  The 
Silver  Cord/'  overpowered  as  it  is  by  the  beautiful 
illustrations  after  John  Tenniel,  could  have  had  any 
prospects  at  all.  Not  that  the  story  is  without 
ingenuity,  but  it  is  dull,  tiresome,  and  long-winded. 
Now  and  again  we  meet  with  a  good  idea  passably 
expressed,  but  far  more  often  with  a  good  idea  marred 
by  slovenly  writing.  Just  think  how  Mr.  Meredith 
would  have  expressed  this,  for  example  : — 

*'  Marion  was  tall,  but  not  especially  so,  and  height 
is  a  merit  in  its  way,  but  not  especially  so  when  one 
avails  oneself  of  it  as  a  tower  of  espial,  and  rejoices 
in  the  ability  to  look  down  with  undue  ease  upon  the 
misdoings  of  a  shorter  world — and  so  did  Marion 
Wagstafie  use  those  extra  inches  !  '* 

That  is  a  good  idea  about  as  badly  expressed  as  may 
be.  That  Shirley,  given  time,  could  do  better  than 
that  we  know,  but  the  fact  was  that  he  was  giving 
himself  no  proper  chance.  He  was  a  hack  ridden 
by  a  printer's  devil,  with  Time  barking  at  his  heels. 
That  was  the  reason.  The  excuse  lies  in  the  fact  that 
he  had  a  family  to  provide  for. 

That  the  novel  had  some  success  is  apparent  from 

176 


LITERARY  METHODS 

the  fact  that,  on  its  pubhcation  in  book-form,  it  at 
once  ran  into  a  second  edition,  and  that  it  was  still 
being  reprinted  in  1865,  as  is  proved  by  Shirley's  entry 
in  his  diary  for  that  year  : — 

"  The  cheap  edition  of  the  '  Silver  Cord  '  is  out 
to-day,  and  1,200  have  been  already  taken  by  the 
trade.  The  Press  is  to  be  worked  a  little — this  I 
consider  as  much  matter  of  business,  in  these  days,  as 
reading  one's  proofs." 

Which  incidentally  shows  that  there  were  ways  of 
making  the  cat  jump  in  those  days  as  in  these. 

About  this  time,  Mr.  Silver  tells  me,  Thackeray  and 
Shirley  were  comparing  notes  about  their  writing. 
Thackeray  was  now  editing  the  Cornhill  and  con-  j 
tributing  to  it  **  The  Roundabout  Papers."  ''  It  takes 
me  a  couple  of  days  to  choose  a  subject  for  a  *  Round- 
about,' "  he  said,  *'  then  a  day  to  write  it  and  I  earn  a 
hundred  pounds.  When  I  get  my  nose  down  to  the 
desk  the  thoughts  come  pretty  freely."  *'  So  do  mine," 
said  Shirley,  "  but  I  haven't  got  a  desk,  and  I  never 
think  of  a  subject  beforehand.  The  words  flow  fast 
enough,  but  not  in  a  flux  like  some  folks." 

That  was  just  where  Shirley  failed,  and  Thackeray 
succeeded.  Thackeray  thought  out  and  digested  his 
ideas  before  he  put  pen  to  paper.  Shirley  scratched 
away  at  his  paper  until  the  effects  came.  There  was  ' 
just  the  same  difference  between  their  work  as  there 
was  between  the  black-and-white  work  of  two  others 
of  the  great  Punch  brotherhood.  Charles  Keene  never 
laid  a  Une  down  without  being  sure  that  it  conveyed 
his  exact  meaning.     Du  Maurier  laid  down  a  dozen 

177 

13— <a297) 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

lines  before  he  discovered  the  exact  meaning  he  wished 
to  convey.  As  Charles  Keene  left  nothing,  so  did 
Thackeray  leave  nothing,  to  chance.     As  Pope  has  it, 

"  True  ease  in  writing  comes  from  Art,  not  chance, 
As  those  move  easiest  who  have  learned  to  dance.*' 

Shirley  left  everything  to  chance,  trusting  to  his 
cleverness  to  pull  him  through,  with  the  result  that  his 
''  easy  writing ''  produced  what  Sheridan  called 
*'  cursed  hard  reading.'' 

I  hope  I  shall  not  be  accused  of  whipping  a  dead 
horse,  but  my  object  is  to  show  what  interest  may  lie 
in  the  personality  of  a  man  whose  work  has  come  to  be 
of  little  or  no  living  importance. 

And,  lest  Shirley  the  man  should  have  been  too  long 
lost  sight  of  in  the  strictures  which  I  have  been  passing 
on  his  writing,  let  me  conclude  this  chapter  with  one 
of  those  bright  scintillations  of  his  brain,  not  un- 
connected with  the  comparison  drawn  above  between 
him  and  Thackeray,  which  have  made  him  unforgetable 
amongst  such  of  his  contemporaries  as  have  survived 
him. 

Mr.  Silver,  Shirley  and  Thackeray  were  together  three 
years  later  [1863]  discussing  Miss  Annie  Thackeray's* 
beautiful  ''Story  of  Elizabeth."  Thackeray  expressed 
the  pride  he  felt  in  such  a  daughter,  and  declared  that 
her  novel  had  all  his  better  and  none  of  his  worse 
qualities. 

From  this  sweeping  judgment  Shirley  and  Mr.  Silver 
dissented,  but  they  agreed  that  he  did  well  to  be  proud 

♦  Mrs.  Ritchie. 

178 


MISS  ANNIE  THACKERAY 

of  a  daughter  who,  in  those  days  of  shpslop  scribbling, 
could  write  such  pure  and  well-cadenced  English. 
''  She  reminds  me/'  said  Shirley, ''  of  Minerva  springing 
fully-equipped  from  the  brain  of  Jupiter.  I  hope  she 
won't  cut  me  now  she's  famous  and  Fm  an  old  fogey." 
Then  one  of  his  nimble  thoughts  flashed  into  his  brain, 
and  he  exclaimed  with  a  sigh  : — 

''When  a  man  gets  middle-aged  '  Eheu!    labuntur 
anni.'     How  the  Annies  slip  away  from  him  !  " 


179 


CHAPTER  XI 


1861-1863 — 6  Kent  Terrace — Harriet  Martineau — Literary  Pensions 
—"Poet"  Close— Holywell  Street— The  Prince  Consort— 
"  Timour  the  Tartar  " — "  The  Card  Basket  " — Letters — 
"  Sooner  or  Later  " — Why  Shirley  Failed  as  Novelist — Nursery 
Rhymes — ^The  Musical  World — Death  of  Thackeray — Bust  in 
Westminster  Abbey. 

URRIEDLY  as  London  of 
the  last  century  is 
passing  away,  there  are 
still  portions  remaining 
which  express  the  mind 
of  the  people  who  origin- 
ally built  and  inhabited 
them,  and  being  a  little 
off  the  track  of  modern 
*'  improvements,"  con- 
tinue to  speak  to  us  of 
the  conditions  under 
which  those  people  lived. 
The  Regent's  Park  is  one 
of  these  back-waters, 
and  is  only  properly 
peopled  in  my  mind  by 
ladies  wearing  crinolines  and  gentlemen  with  side- 
whiskers,  by  little  girls  whose  trousers  reach  down 
to  their  ankles,  and  policemen  who  wear  top  hats. 

180 


NO.  6   KENT  TERRACE 

And  it  was  there,  under  conditions  of  which  these  were 
some  of  the  outward  signs,  that  the  Brookses  and  their 
children  went  to  Hve  in  1861.  It  was  at  No.  6  Kent 
Terrace  that  the  last  twelve  years  of  Shirley's  life  were 
spent,  those  years  in  which  he  was  to  attain  to  the 
height  of  his  ambition  and  in  which  he  was  to  gather 
around  him  the  host  of  friends  who,  when  the  time 
came,  so  sincerely  mourned  his  loss. 

At  iirst  he  also  had  working  chambers  at  2  Tanfield 
Court.  Later  he  gave  these  up,  and  did  such  work  as 
could  not  be  done  at  the  ''  Bedford ''  or  the  Punch 
offices  at  home  in  the  study  behind  his  dining-room. 

In  the  diary  of  1871  he  quotes  from  that  of  1861, 
''  Thank  God,  moved  into  a  house  of  my  own,  and 
kissed  E.  as  mistress.  .  .  .  Came  out  to  get  some 
food,  and  took  her  back  a  turquoise  basket  and  chain, 
and  a  bottle  of  fine  Madeira.''  That  was  one  of  the 
little  dramatic  effects  that  he  was  so  fond  of  arranging 
on  epoch-making  occasions.  Then,  sitting  down  at  a 
little  table  they  drank  success  to  the  new  experiment. 
And  from  that  moment  that  little  table  became 
something  sacred,  a  sort  of  altar  on  which  they  had 
poured  out  libations  to  the  god  of  domesticity.  Once 
indeed  its  sanctity  was  for  the  moment  forgotten, 
and  the  incident  duly  recorded  in  the  diary  of  ten  years 
later.  Mrs.  Brooks,  wanting  a  new  small  table,  ''  got 
one  (in  exchange)  for  some  money  and  for  a  table  which 
she  had  had  a  long  time.  But,  remembering  that  this 
was  the  first  table  at  which  we  sat  in  this  house — that 
at  which  we  had  a  bottle  of  Madeira  together  the  day 
we  came — she  got  it  back  again." 

181 


SHIRLEY   BROOKS 

That  is  a  pretty  touch,  worthy  of  Mr.  Pepys  himself, 
and  characteristic  of  Shirley's  tender  sentimentality. 

As  we  proceed  we  shall  find  record  of  much  inter- 
esting company  which  passed  through  the  Brooks's 
hospitable  door  and  of  many  a  notable  entertainment. 
For  the  moment  we  must  content  ourselves  with  two 
quotations,  the  one  from  Mr.  Frith's  ''  Reminiscences," 
the  other  from  a  kind  letter  written  to  me  by  Miss 
Ellen  Terry. 

Mr.  Frith  says  : — 

"  It  would  be  too  great  an  effort  of  memory  to  recall 
the  names  of  the  celebrated  people  I  have  met  at 
Shirley's  table.  Charles  Kingsley  and  Mark  Twain 
were  there  the  same  evening,  I  think — the  former  with 
the  drawback  of  a  slight  stutter,  delighting  us  with 
his  bright  talk  ;  and  the  latter  with  his  quaint  humour  ; 
Brooks  always  '  holding  his  own  '  in  that  or  any  other 
company." 

And  Miss  Terry  : — 

''My  acquaintanceship  with  Shirley  Brooks  was 
slight.  I  was  very  young  when  I  met  him  at  the  house 
of  my  dear  friend  Tom  Taylor.  He  appeared  to  me 
to  be  a  brilliant  creature,  sunny  and  kind.  He  had 
a  handsome  wife,  and  they  gave  pleasant  dinner- 
parties at  their  house  in  Regent's  Park.  ...  I  met 
him  first  during  the  Canterbury  cricket  week,  and  then 
went  to  two  or  three  dinner-parties  at  his  house. 
Mark  Lemon,  the  Tom  Taylors,  John  Tenniel,  Piatti, 
Joachim,  Clara  Schumann,  du  Maurier,  Sir  Alexander 
Duff-Gordon,  Christopher  Weguelin,  Thomas  Sidney 
Cooper  and  his  son,  Madame  Venturi,  and  many  other 
interesting    people    I    met    there.     I    admired    Mrs. 

182 


"POET"   CLOSE 

Shirley  Brooks,  and  thought  she  would  '  make  a  fine 
Lady  Macbeth' '' 

The  following  peculiarly  interesting  letter  addressed 
to  Shirley  at  this  period  has  been  most  kindly  sent  to 
me  by  Mr.  George  Dunlop,  of  the  Kilmarnock  Standard. 
It  raises  two  points  of  great  importance,  firstly,  that 
of  Literary  Pensions,  secondly,  that  of  the  religious 
formahties  attending  the  taking  of  oaths,  both  of  which 
matters  were  of  vital  significance  in  the  career  of  the 
writer,  Harriet  Martineau. 

In  April,  1860,  a  civil  list  pension  had  been  granted 
on  the  recommendation  of  Lord  Palmerston  to  a 
wretched  dogger  el- writer  named  John  Close.  His 
sycophantic  muse  had  gained  him  the  patronage  of  the 
nobility  and  gentlefolk  in  and  around  his  native 
Swaledale,  and,  chiefly  through  the  influence  of  Lord 
Carlisle  and  Lord  Lonsdale,  he  had  obtained  a  wide- 
spread and  most  undeserved  recognition.  The  bestowal 
of  the  pension  was  nothing  less  than  a  public  scandal, 
and  on  May  2nd,  1861,  the  matter  was  raised  in  the 
House  of  Commons.  As  a  result  the  pension  was 
cancelled,  the  ''  Poet  "  Close  receiving  a  solatium  of 
£100  from  the  Royal  Bounty.* 

This  was  the  moment  at  which  Miss  Martineau  wrote 
her  letter  and  recounted  her  own  experiences.  On  the 
subject  of  literary  pensions  and  the  manner  in  which 
they  were  granted  the  distinguished  authoress  held 
strong  opinions.     As  early  as   1832  there  had  been 

*  For  further  particulars  of  the  "  Poet  "  Close  vide  the  "Dictionary 
of  National  Biography,"  Vol.  II,  Sup.,  p.  34. 

183 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

talk  of  conferring  one  upon  her,  and  the  offer  had  been 
repeated  in  1840  and  1841,  but  she  consistently  refused 
to  accept  such  recognition  of  her  services  to  literature 
on  the  ground  that  it  should  be  conferred  by  Parliament 
itself  altogether  irrespective  of  the  Government. 
Feeling  ran  high  on  the  subject,  and  Lord  Brougham, 
on  hearing  her  name  mentioned,  so  far  demeaned  him- 
self as  to  exclaim,  *'  Harriet  Martineau  !  I  hate  her  ! 
I  hate  a  woman  who  has  opinions.  She  has  refused  a 
pension — making  herself  out  to  be  better  than  other 
people/'  That  was  as  contemptible  and  insolent  as  it 
was  dishonest,  for  he  well  knew  that  her  very  logical 
and  unselfish  view  was  that  political  independence  was 
essential  to  honest  and  useful  literary  work.  The 
pensioners  of  a  party  are  tongue-tied.  The  pensioners 
of  a  nation  have  a  charter  to  speak  out  the  truth  that 
in  them  lies. 

That  is  the  first  matter  with  which  the  letter  deals. 
The  second  is  of  even  greater  importance.  The  story 
of  the  gradual  substitution  of  solemn  affirmations  for 
religious  oaths,  where  there  are  conscientious  objections 
to  the  attendant  formalities,  is  too  long  to  be  recapitu- 
lated here.  It  is  enough  to  remind  the  reader  that 
the  struggle  with  Mr.  Bradlaugh  in  1880  brought  the 
matter  finally  to  a  crisis,  and  that,  since  1888,  in  all 
cases  where  formerly  an  oath  sworn  upon  the  Bible 
was  necessary,  an  affirmation  may  now  be  substituted. 

The  condition  of  things  in  1861  is  plainly  set  forth 
in  the  following  letter,  which  would  seem  to  have 
been  written  in  response  to  one  from  Shirley  Brooks 
enquiring  as  to  the  claims  of  Close  to  public  recognition. 

184 


LITERARY   PENSIONS 

Harriet  Martineau  to  S.  B. 

"  Ambleside, 

"  Westmoreland, 

"May  I5th,  '61. 

''  Dear  Mr.  Brooks, 

**  Though  I  am  a  Westmoreland  '  Stateswoman  ' 
I  never  heard  of  this  poet,  and  I  doubt  whether  my 
neighbours  ever  did.  We  will  inquire.  It  seems  a 
very  bad  case,  and  I  will  look  out  for  an  opportunity 
of  bringing  it  forward.  I  don't  at  all  like  the  method 
of  those  literary  pensions.  When  it  was  repeatedly 
attempted  to  get  me  to  accept  a  pension — Mrs. 
Somerville  and  I  being  wanted  to  cover  some  bad  jobs 
in  that  department — I  was  told  that  it  was  *  a  great 
honour.'  I  did  not  refuse  out  of  pride ;  but  still 
I  could  not  think  it  an  honour,  when  I  saw  how  Mrs. 
Somerville  was  paraded,  and  how  I  should  have  been 
paraded  if  I  had  accepted,  to  turn  the  pubHc  atten- 
tion away  from  some  indefensible  grants.  You  are 
probably  hardly  old  enough  to  remember  how  Lord 
Melbourne  treated  Faraday.  His  tone,  in  public,  and 
Lord  Palmerston's,  and  that  of  every  Minister  except 
Peel,  about  these  literary  pensions  is,  to  my  mind, 
insufferable,  when  they  think,  all  the  while,  that  they 
are  so  kind  !  We  want  a  wholly  different  system,  in 
which  the  decisions  shall  not  rest  with  Prime  Ministers 
who  don't  read,  under  a  Queen  who  reads  nothing. 
We  want  a  larger  system,  generous  and  dignified, 
and  in  the  hands  of  some  administrators  who  could  be 
respected  by  scientific  and  literary  people.  Perhaps 
we  ought  not  to  be  sorry  that  so  flagrant  a  case  as  this 
of  Close  has  occurred,  to  show  how  badly  the  present 
system  of  dole  by  favour  or  caprice  answers.  If  I  can 
treat  of  it  I  will. 

"  I  have  been  thinking  of  writing  to  Mr.  Evans  on 

185 


SHIRLEY   BROOKS 

a  matter  which  I  will  rather  mention  to  you — though 
I  don't  know  what,  precisely,  your  connection  with 
Punch  is.  I  am  sorry — everybody  is  sorry — to  see 
Punch  treat  the  Rochdale  Oath  case  as  he  does.  I 
think  he  can  hardly  be  aware  what  the  denial  of  justice 
is  to  persons  whose  oath  or  whose  testimony  is  refused 
in  Courts  of  Justice.  Are  you  aware  that  thieves,  and 
police,  and  low  attorneys  now  ascertain  who  the 
persons  are  who  cannot  get  justice  ?  Are  you  aware 
that  some  of  us — and  I  for  one — have  been  pointed  out 
in  a  newspaper  as  safe  subjects  for  burglary,  garrotting, 
etc.  ?  Are  you  aware  that  some  of  the  best  clergymen, 
as  well  as  the  best  lawyers  we  have,  are  earnestly 
endeavouring  to  get  an  Affirmation  Bill  passed,  which 
shall  restore  the  witness-box  to  its  proper  use,  instead 
of  its  being  used  for  the  ascertainment  of  people's 
theological  opinions  ?  Mrs.  Maden  was  the  most 
modest,  quiet,  harmless  witness  that  could  be.  She 
did  not  obtrude  her  opinions.  She  did  not  refuse  the 
oath.  (After  Lord  Campbell's  and  other  Judges' 
avowals  people  may  regard  the  oath  as  a  form  of 
asseveration  without  being  necessarily  dishonest.)  She 
would  have  taken  the  oath,  and  troubled  nobody  ; 
but  the  opposing  lawyer  catechised  her,  and  then  she 
spoke  the  simple  truth.  I  never  heard  of  her  before  ; 
but  I  entirely  respect  her  now ;  and  I  do  not  respect 
Punch  the  more  for  taking  the  wrong  side  in  a  case  of 
liability  which  becomes  more  urgent  every  day,  and 
in  which  rehef  is  becoming  absolutely  indispensable. 
It  is  bad  enough  that  a  citizen  should  be  precluded  from 
obtaining  justice.  It  is  bad  enough  that  he  should 
be  subject  to  insult  in  Court  from  lawyers  who  often 
know  and  believe  less  than  he  does.  But  it  will  be 
a  great  additional  shock  if  the  hue  and  cry  is  to  be 
hounded  on  by  Punch,  from  whom  so  much  better 
things  are  expected.     I  hope  this  is  the  last  time  he  will 

186 


''CLOSFS   GUSH  OF  GRATITUDE" 

help  the  denial  of  justice  to  precisely  the  persons  who 
will  not  tell  a  lie  to  obtain  their  rights.  You  may 
have  nothing  to  do  with  all  this,  but  you  may  be  able 
to  convey  to  the  Editor  or  Editors  what  is  thought 
by  me,  and  by  many  others,  and  by  some  whose  opinion 
is  of  great  value  and  importance. 

*'  Believe  me  very  truly  yours, 

"  H.  Martineau." 


Whether  or  no  Shirley  took  any  active  part  in  the 
oaths  and  affirmations  matter  I  do  not  know,  but  he 
was  not  slow  to  take  a  hand  in  ridiculing  the  '*  Poet  '* 
Close.  Miss  Martineau's  hint  was  at  once  acted  upon, 
and  shrewd  blows  were  struck  by  him  in  two  sets  of 
verses  purporting  to  be  from  the  pen  of  the  doggerel- 
bard  himself.  The  first  was  entitled ''Close's  Gush  of 
Gratitude  ''  (Punch ^  June  1st,  1861),  and  was  a  happy 
parody  of  Close's  fulsome  panegyrics.     It  began  : — 

"  For  this  kind  pension  thou  hast  gave. 
All  thanks  to  thee,  great  Pam, 
I  am  your  most  obedient  slave. 
Upon  my  soul  I  am.'' 

and  ended  : — 

"  For  he  is  as  good  as  he  is  great, 
And  when  he  comes  to  die, 
I  only  hope  that  we  both  shall  meet 
In  yon  purpureous  sky. 

"  Till  then  I'll  always  sing  his  praise, 
That  I've  determined  on  ; 
And  truly  proud  I  am  to  hear 
His  name,  like  mine,  is  John." 
187 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

This  was  followed  a  fortnight  later  by  **  Poet  Close 
Changes  his  Mind/'     It  concludes  : — 

"To  be  a  pensioned  slave  of  State 

Unsuits  my  haughty  mind, 

I  choose  to  have  my  genius  free, 

Uncabined,  unconfined, 

*  *  * 

"  And  when  old  Pam  goes  down  below. 
His  epitaph  111  pen, 
'  Here  lies  the  wretch  who  pensioned  Close, 
And  took  it  away  again.'  " 

That  was  the  end  of  the  '*  poet ''  so  far  as  Punch  was 
concerned,  but  he  continued  for  thirty  years  longer 
*'  to  issue  little  pamphlets  of  metrical  balderdash," 
extorting  *'  shillings  from  thousands  of  visitors  to 
Windermere,  and  stamps  from  numerous  sympathisers 
all  over  the  country/' 

This  year,  amongst  other  windmills  against  which 
Shirley  tilted,  was  that  sink  of  iniquity,  Holywell 
Street,  which  some  of  the  respectable  inhabitants 
now  proposed  to  re-christen  Booksellers'  Row.  He 
prophesied  : — 

*'  The  doom  has  gone  out  and  the  dens  will  go  down, 
Too  long  a  vile  scandal  on  London's  renown ; 
An  Architect's  waving  a  potent  right  hand. 
Devoted  to  sweep  off  the  pest  of  the  Strand." 

But,  as  we  know,  **  the  Architect  "  was  very  slow 
about  it,  and  *'  the  old  Holy  Well "  was  not  made 
'*  holy  again  "  until  forty  years  later. 

About  the  same  time  he  penned  one  of  those  happy 
epigrams  which  fashioned  themselves  so  easily  in  his 
brain  : — 

188 


THE   PRINCE  CONSORT 

HOMAGE  TO  THE  SCOTCH  RIFLES. 
By  a  Spiteful  Competitor. 

**  It  seems  that  the  Scots 

Turn  out  much  better  shots 
At  long  distance,  than  most  of  the  Enghshmen  are : 

But  this  we  all  knew 

That  a  Scotchman  could  do — 
Make  a  small  piece  of  metal  go  awfully  far." 

These  were  of  course  merely  the  squibs  of  the  pro- 
fessional jester  who  had  to  keep  the  pot  boihng,  but 
the  year  was  big  with  a  matter  which  stimulated  his 
pen  to  greater  issues.  Punch  in  the  past  had  taken  the 
popular  and  misguided  view  of  the  Prince  Consort's 
conduct  in  his  very  difficult  position,  and  Shirley  had 
not  been  guiltless  in  the  paper's  cruel  attacks  on  one 
whose  position  precluded  him  from  retaliation,  and 
whose  high  character  and  noble  self-effacement  were 
pitifully  misunderstood.  In  1855  the  Prince  had  been 
made  a  Field-Marshal,  and  Shirley  had  written  a 
spiteful  set  of  verses  entitled  **  The  Toy  of  the  Field 
Marshal's  Child,"  breathing  the  same  spirit  as  was 
shown  by  the  picture  of  Mr.  Punch  looking  at  the 
Academy  portrait  of  the  Prince  at  a  review  and  saying 
*'  No.  24.  A  Field-Marshal ;  h'm — very  good  indeed. 
What  sanguinary  engagement  can  it  be  ?  "  Later  on 
it  is  said  that  a  hint  from  Windsor  Castle  resulted  in 
a  modification  of  this  hostility,  and  soon  after  the 
attacks  ceased  altogether. 

And  now,  on  December  14th,  1861,  the  object  of 
these  attacks  lay  untimely  dead.  He  had  lived  down 
the  prejudice  against  his  foreign  nationality  and  had 

189 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

won  his  way  to  the  hearts  of  the  people.  Shirley  was 
chosen  to  express  Punch's  agreement  with  the  popular 
verdict,  and  to  make  such  amends  as  were  possible. 
And  it  must  be  confessed  he  rose  nobly  to  the  occasion. 
A  few  verses  must  suffice  : — 

"  Gallant,  high-natured,  brave, 

O,  had  his  lot  been  cast  in  warrior  days, 
No  nobler  knight  had  won  the  minstrel's  praise. 
Than  he,  for  whom  the  half-reared  banners  wave. 

*  ♦  * 

"  It  was  too  soon  to  die. 

Yet,  might  we  count  his  years  by  triumphs  won. 
By  wise,  and  bold,  and  Christian  duties  done. 
It  were  no  brief  eventless  history. 

*  *  ♦ 

"  Could  there  be  closer  tie 

Twixt  us,  who,  sorrowing,  own  a  nation's  debt. 
And  Her,  our  own  dear  Lady,  who  as  yet 
Must  meet  her  sudden  woe  with  tearless  eye  ? 

"  When  with  a  kind  reUef 

Those  eyes  rain  tears,  O  might  this  thought  employ  ! 
Him  whom  she  loved  we  loved.     We  shared  her  joy, 
And  wiU  not  be  denied  to  share  her  grief." 

This  was  not  the  only  time  that  Punch  made  such 
amends  as  he  could  for  misjudging  a  noble  character. 
Indeed,  we  shall  see  later  that  he  was  not  above  eating 
humble  pie  most  humbly,  thereby  showing  himself  the 
gentleman  he  was,  when  events  proved  his  judgment  to 
have  been  too  hastily  formed. 

Shirley  was  not  yet  done  with  play  writing,  and  1861 

found  him  collaborating  with  John  Oxenford,  the  great 

I      dramatic  critic  of  the  Times ^  in  **  Timour  the  Tartar, 

190 


THE  GERMAN   REEDS 

or  the  Ironmaster  of  Samarkand/'  The  nature  of  this 
extravaganza,  founded  as  it  was  on  the  story  of 
Tamerlane,  may  be  gathered  from  the  explanatory 
letterpress  which  significantly  stated  that  '*  a  trifling 
lapse  of  time  between  the  years  1361  and  1861  occasion- 
ally occurs."  It  occupied  the  stage  of  the  '*  Olympic  " 
at  Christmas  of  this  year. 

Nor  was  this  the  extent  of  his  theatrical  activity  at 
this  period. 

Earlier  in  the  year  the  German  Reeds  and  John 
Parry  had  scored  a  great  success  with  his  triologue 
entitled  ''  The  Card  Basket/'  a  dramatic  trifle  which 
started  life  with  only  one  parent,  but  has  since,  in  a 
curious  way,  acquired  another.  Some  years  later, 
I  think  in  1875,  after  Shirley's  death,  Mr.  Arthur 
a  Beckett  was  doing  ''  stock  author  "  work  for  the 
German  Reed  entertainments.  It  was  decided  to 
revive  *'  The  Card  Basket,"  but  no  *'  book  "  could  be 
found.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Reed,  and  Corney  Grain,  who 
had  succeeded  John  Parry,  had  but  a  vague  recollection 
of  the  plot  and  the  points.  All  they  could  remember 
with  distinctness  was  that  there  were  three  sisters 
who  all  said  ''  dear  me."  That  was,  it  must  be 
admitted,  little  enough  to  go  upon,  but  Mr.  a  Beckett 
rose  to  the  occasion,  and  set  to  work  to  re-write  the  play 
from  these  ineffectual  hints  and  from  his  own  inner 
consciousness.  The  result  proved  a  success,  and  the 
Press  of  the  day  was  loud  in  its  praises  of  ''  Shirley 
Brooks's  dialogue,"  for  it  stiU  stood  in  his  name, 
declaring  with  one  accord  that  it  was  *'  so  much  better 
than  the  dialogue  of  the  moment."      Thus  did  Mr. 

191 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

Arthur  a  Beckett  act  as  *'  Ghost ''  to  his  old  friend,  and 
thus  did  the  Fourth  Estate  show  that  it  is  not  always 
to  be  trusted  when  it  sets  up  as  laudator  temporis  acti  ! 
The  manuscript  of  ''  The  Card  Basket ''  (new  edition), 
which  was  never  published,  is  now  in  the  possession  of 
Mr.  Florian  Williams,  the  music-publisher  of  Great 
Portland  Street,  as  is  also  that  of  Shirley  Brooks's 
"  Pyramids,''  also  unpublished,  written  for  the  German 
Reeds,  and  first  produced  at  the  Gallery  of  Illustration 
on  Feb.  1st,  1864. 

With  this  last  ends  the  list  of  Shirley's  contributions 
to  the  stage,  leaving  out  of  account  various  prologues 
and  speeches  written  for  special  occasions,  of  which 
we  shall  find  some  mention  when  we  come  to  the  Diaries. 

In  later  years  Shirley  was  accustomed  to  deplore 
what  he  considered  the  decadence  in  the  writing  of 
burlesque.  He  would  speak  of  the  ''  palmy  days  of 
Planche,"  whose  polished  lines  put  to  the  blush  the 
slap-dash,  slip-slop  work  of  those  who  followed  him. 
Apropos  of  this  Mr.  Silver  writes  to  me  :  *'  One  day  at 
the  Punch  dinner-table,  after  the  business  of  the 
evening  was  transacted,  Shirley  said,  '  Good  legs  will 
carry  off  bad  rhymes,  and  people  chiefly  go  to  look 
and  not  to  listen.  And  so  players  don't  take  pains 
to  say  their  words  intelligibly,  and  instead  of  good 
burlesques  we  get  bad  puns  and  breakdown  dances.' 
As  a  sample  of  stage-writing,  he  thought  the  verse 
'  An  upright  monarch  and  a  downright  fool '  was  rather 
a  good  line  of  his  own,  when  rightly  spoken.  And  he 
agreed  with  me  in  praising  Mrs.  Keeley  for  the  clearness 
of  her  utterance.     As  an  instance  of  her  cleverness 

192 


BURLESQUE 

in  saying  a  risky  word  without  a  hint  of  coarseness,  I 
cited  her  Aladdin  (from  a  rather  faulty  memory)  : — 

'  I  pegged  my  pegtop  on  my  tutor's  toes : 
His  arm  descended  while  his  anger  rose. 
'Twas  not  upon  my  top  his  vengeance  fell, 
Nor  did  he  "  kiss  the  place  to  make  it  well !  " ' 

Then  we  recalled  the  solemn  entrance  of  her  husband, 
as  Prince  Aladdin's  Ambassador,  knocking  boldly  at 
the  palace  door,  and  astonishing  the  gorgeous  footman 
by  the  question,  *  Emperor  at  home  ?  '  delivered  in 
a  manner  of  inimitable  dignity  and  impudence/' 

That  is  all  very  well,  but  we  who,  in  later  years,  were 
blessed  with  a  Nellie  Farren,  an  Edward  Terry,  a  Fred 
Leslie,  and  a  Royce,  will  be  slow,  I  think,  to  admit 
that  anything  that  happened  in  burlesque  before  the 
seventies,  so  far  at  least  as  the  actors  were  concerned, 
was  inimitable.  In  respect  of  the  writing  of  burlesques 
Shirley  was  nearer  the  mark,  and  we  must  all  regret  the 
days  when,  in  his  own  words,  there  were  *'  not  only 
people  who  could  act  burlesques,  but  also  people  who 
could  write  them." 

In  the  following  letter  **  the  patriot,  Digby  Seymour,'' 
refers  to  the  sitting  member  for  Southampton,  whose 
commercial  transactions,  for  which  he  had  been  cen- 
sured by  the  benchers  of  the  Middle  Temple,  had  not 
escaped  Punch's  eagle  eye.  ''  Fisk's "  was,  and 
perhaps  still  is,  a  well-known  Southampton  public- 
house,  **  The  Show  "  was  the  second  of  our  Inter- 
national Exhibitions,  held  on  this  occasion  at  South 
Kensington.  The  domes  and  some  other  parts  of  the 
structure  were  eventually  re-erected  in  the  Alexandra 

193 

14— (a297) 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

Park,  MusweU  Hill.  "  W.  M.  T/s  very  fine  dinner  *' 
was  a  Punch  dinner,  held  by  special  invitation  at 
Thackeray's  new  house  on  Palace  Green  on  July  9th. 
Mr.  Silver  remembers  that  their  host,  after  showing 
them  round  said,  with  not  unnatural  pride  : — 

*'  This  house  and  all  the  things  in  it  have  somehow 
come  to  me  out  of  my  inkstand.'' 

Only  one  more  Punch  dinner  was  held  there,  on  July 
22nd  of  the  following  year,  when  Mr.  Silver  recorded 
in  his  diary,  '*  conversation  was  subdued  and  not  re- 
markable for  brilliance."  Shirley,  it  is  true,  raised  a 
laugh  by  declaring  that  Shakespeare  had  proclaimed 
'*  Ponny  "  Mayhew's  quality  in  the  line  : 

"  The  Prince  of  Darkness  is  a  gentleman  ;  Modo  he's  called 
and  Mahu," 

but  that  seems  to  have  been  the  best  thing  of  the 

evening.     It  would  almost  seem  that  impending  sorrow 

was  already  casting  its  shadow  over  the  house  which  was 

so  soon  to  mourn  the  loss  of  its  noble-hearted  master. 

The  ''  bit  of  Walter  Scott  about  the  Rifle  Match  " 

referred  to  verses  entitled  *'  The  Battle  of  Wimbledon," 

in  which  Shirley  jubilantly  recorded  how  the  English 

team  had  turned  the  tables  on  the  Scots  : — 

**  But  calmly  England  stood  and  shot 
And  sternly  snuffed  out  every  Scot 

Who  tried  the  desperate  game. 
For  Halford  sent  the  fatal  lead, 
And  Heaton  put  his  foes  to  bed, 
And  HaUiday  unceasing  sped 

His  balls  with  matchless  aim." 

Finally  the  scores  stood  at  890  to  724,  and  England 
had  had  her  revenge. 

194 


INTERNATIONAL  EXHIBITION  (1862) 

S.  B.  TO  Percival  Leigh. 

**  6  Kent  Terrace, 

"  Regent's  Park,  N.W., 

"  S.  Swithin,  '62. 

[July  ISth.] 

"  My  dear  Leigh, 

*'  No,  not  bloater,  but  ham  and  eggs,  but  the  moral 
is  the  same.  I  was  very  glad  to  hear  from  you,  not 
knowing  but  that  the  patriot,  Digby  Seymour,  might 
have  avenged  upon  you  any  little  freedom  of  old 
Punch's  by  debauching  the  young  lady  at  Fisk's  into 
poisoning  your  beer. 

*'  No  news.  I  have  had  to  do  with  the  Show  twice 
in  three  days,  having  Scottish  cousins  with  me.  On 
Saturday  we  went  among  the  Swells,  and  yesterday 
among  the  Rabble — the  contrast  (dress  apart)  very 
noteworthy.  The  Swells  are,  generally  speaking, 
handsome,  and  they  lounged,  evidently  in  a  state  of 
enjoyment  of  a  lofty  kind,  smiled,  and  went  away 
self-complacent ;  the  people  are  as  a  rule  ugly,  they 
looked  careworn  and  cross,  but  they  did  everything 
at  a  hand-gallop,  and  towards  five  were  utterly  beaten 
and  miserable,  giving  the  most  vacant  stares  at  the  few 
remaining  sights.  There  were  about  10,000  babies  in 
the  place,  and  when  the  organ  stopped  you  could 
distinctly  hear  the  sound  of  their  sucking.  Many 
children  lost,  but  the  police  quite  understand  the  busi- 
ness and  walk  off  the  roaring  little  creatures  until  their 
parents  gradually  attain  to  a  conviction  that  by  asking 
a  few  questions  they  may  recover  their  live  bundles. 
Altogether  there  was  matter  for  scribble,  which  I 
suppose  to  be  the  final  cause  of  all  that  is  done  and  said 
in  these  days. 

"  W.  M.  T.  gave  us  a  very  fine  dinner,  for  your  com- 
fort be  it  mentioned  :     turtle,  venison  pasty,  salmon 

Ids 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

cold,  turbot  hot,  aspic,  and  all  the  rest  of  it,  stunning 
claret,  and  ninepenny  weeds.  He  has  fine  large  rooms. 
I  think  we  were  a  little  '  melancholy  and  gentleman- 
like,' and  we  invented  a  cut  for  the  disparagement  of 
the  vulgarian  Cobden,  as  became  Kensington  garden- 
ers.* Leech  will  have  a  fine  old  house  at  Kensington, 
with  half-an-acre  of  garden.  A  friend  of  mine  would 
have  taken  the  house,  but  there  were  more  big  drawing- 
rooms  than  he  could  utilise.  So  J.  L.  can  make  an 
out  and  out  studio. 

**  I  have  seen  nobody  since  the  end  of  the  week,  of 
our  lot,  except  Pater,  at  the  Show.  I  suppose  we  eat 
to-morrow.  I  did  a  bit  of  Walter  Scott  about  the 
rifle  match,  for  P.P.  at  the  last  moment.  I  was  looking 
at  Callcott^sf  *  Southampton  Water '  yesterday  and 
thought  of  you.     0  rus  I  etc. 

'*  Kindest  regards  to  your  brother  and  Mrs.  Leigh. 

*'  Ever  yours, 

**S.  B.'' 

The  ''  not  even  cut  '*  episode  of  his  last  novel  might 
well  have  fixed  Shirley's  determination  to  be  done  with 
publication  by  instalments,  and  show  the  world  and 
his  friends  of  what  he  was  really  capable  as  an  artist 
and  not  as  a  mere  mechanic.  But  the  publishers  and 
the  res  an  gust  a  domi  were  against  him.  The  first  knew 
what  paid  them  best  and  the  last  was  calHng  louder 
and  louder  for  relief.  Thus  it  was  that  he  again 
succumbed,  though  not  without  insisting  to  some  extent 
on  his  rights  as  an  artist,  to  the  importunity  of  his 

*  Vide  "  The  Old  Sentinel,"  in  which  Palmerston  is  depicted 
catching  Cobden  pouring  water  into  the  touch-holes  of  the  English 
cannon.  Pam  {loquitur),  "  Don't  you  meddle  with  things  you  don't 
understand,  young  feller." 

t  Sir  A.  W.  Callcott. 

196 


"SOONER  OR  LATER" 

friends  Bradbury  &  Evans  to  write  them  a  serial 
novel.  Fourteen  monthly  numbers  was  the  contract, 
but  he  demanded  an  extension  when  he  found  himself 
too  much  restricted.  As  a  result  '*  Sooner  or  Later  " 
shows  great  advance  upon  its  forerunners  and  proves 
that,  had  he  devoted  himself  to  this  class  of  literature, 
he  might  well  have  taken  high  rank  amongst  the 
novelists  of  the  period.  After  running  for  about 
eighteen  months  it  was  pubhshed  in  book  form, 
illustrated  by  his  friend  George  du  Maurier.* 

The  story  is  far  more  closely  knit  than  its  prede- 
cessors. The  plot  is  strong,  the  characterisation  good, 
the  conversation  witty  and  well-sustained,  giving  plea- 
sure by  its  ingenuity  and  allusiveness  apart  from  its 
value  in  expediting  the  catastrophe.  Perhaps  the 
most  amusing  part  of  the  book  is  that  where  he  uses 
his  own  ♦editorial  experiences  in  his  description  of 
Mangles,  the  editor  of  the  Vivisedor,  and  Mr.  Pruth, 
his  assistant.  We  still  laugh  ruefully  at,  because  we 
still  suffer  from,  the  same  ''  thorns  in  the  cushion." 
There  is  the  lady  who  demands  a  kind  review  of  her 
poems  because  her  second  cousin  was  tried  by  a  court- 
martial  in  India,  of  which  the  editor's  father  was  a 
member.  And  there  is  the  gentleman  who  asks  for 
a  puff  of  a  play  on  the  ground  that  the  author  and 
himself  were  vaccinated  from  the  same  child.  There, 
of  course,  we  have  an  adumbration  of  Dickens's 
exaggerative  manner,  but  we  laugh  and  that  is  the 
important  thing. 

*  I  am  told  that  the  family  now  uses  the  capital  (Du  Maurier), 
but  the  artist  in  writing  to  me  used  the  little  '*  d." 

197  .        . 


f 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

It  must  not  be  concluded,  however,  that  because 
there  is  a  good  deal  of  comic  relief  the  novel  as  a  whole 
is  written  on  the  frivolous  plane.  Indeed,  he  got  into 
the  same  trouble  as  Thackeray  did  with  ''  Pendennis." 
It  was  complained  that  he  had  dared  to  give  an  un- 
varnished account  of  the  life  of  a  young  man  about 
town.  To  this  he  repUed  that  he  refused  to  be  a  party 
to  ''  the  mockery  of  escaping  into  generalities,  which 
mean  nothing  to  those  unacquainted  with  evil,  and  are 
laughed  at  by  those  who  are  less  fortunate.''  Again, 
he  was  accused  of  ''  unfriendliness  to  what  is  not 
improperly  called  the  religious  world.''  To  this  he 
retorted  that  the  charge  had  been  made  "  without 
sufficient  attention  to  the  entire  bearing  of  the  work, 
and  notably  without  regard  to  the  character  in  which 
is  embodied  the  best  form  of  religion  which  the  author 
can  typify." 

The  book  closes  with  a  notable  passage  in  which  he 
claims  for  the  newspaper  the  part  which  has  in  the  past 
been  filled  by  the  poets  who  **  have  worked  and  gone." 
A  new  journalistic  dynasty  has  been  founded,  truthful, 
scholarly,  and  fearless,  which  is  as  salt  to  the  sea,  and 
keeps  society  from  becoming  as  "  the  gilded  puddle 
the  beasts  would  cough  at."  This  new  journalism  is, 
he  says,  compact  of  cathoHc  recognition  and  non- 
insular  postulates  *'  which  are  already  a  religion 
lacking  neither  its  priests  nor  its  sacrifices."  It  asks 
no  plaudits.  It  dreads  popularity  as  a  proof  of 
weakness.  '*  Some  of  us,"  he  concludes,  ''  who  have 
perhaps  looked  doubtfully  on  and  listened  moodily  (to) 
evil  which  forces  itself  on  eye  and  ear,  and  have  felt 

193 


LITERATURE  IN   PARADISE 

that  '  but  to  think  is  to  be  full  of  sorrow/  have  been 
helped  ...  to  maintain  the  belief  that  a  day  will 
dawn  in  which  this  Lazarus  of  a  world  will  hear  the 
words  of  power  that  came  to  the  brother  of  her  who  sat 
still  in  the  house.*'  That  is  nobly  put.  That  is  a  high 
and  splendid  ideal  of  journalism,  often  enough 
expressed,  but  how  often  woefully  abandoned  in  the 
upshot. 

As  to  the  fate  of  his  novels  Shirley  himself  had, 
I  think,  no  illusions. 

''  One  day,*'  Mr.  Silver  tells  me,  "  he  said  he  won- 
dered whether  among  the  joys  awaiting  us  in  Paradise 
there  would  be  found  time  for  the  leisurely  perusal 
of  good  literature,  unread  in  our  hard-working  and 
overcrowded  days  on  earth. 

*'  Leigh  pressed  him  for  the  Hst  of  volumes  he  would 
choose.  But  Shirley  protested  that  it  was  not  possible 
to  prepare  off-hand  a  catalogue  for  the  immortal 
library.  He  was  clearly  of  opinion  that  not  more 
than  three  English  novelists  (himself  of  course  not 
among  them)  should  be  included.  Of  one  thing, 
however,  he  felt  certain,  and  that  was,  that  no  little 
of  the  current  literature  of  the  day  (save  the  mark  !) 
would  be  forced  as  a  torture  on  the  denizens  of  '  the 
other  place  M  *' 

And  I  must  confess  that,  if  Shirley  Brooks's  earlier 
novels  are  to  be  found  in  the  Plutonian  library,  that  is 
another  reason  why  I,  for  one,  must  take  care  to  be 
good. 

The  following  letter  shows  that  there  was  some 
delay  in  the  completion  of  the  novel  for  publication  in 

199 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

book  form,  and  some  resulting  friction  with  his  friends, 
the  publishers  : — 

S.  B.  TO  Messrs.  Bradbury  &  Evans. 

"  20  BouvERiE  Street,  E.G., 

"  Nov.  29th,  1862. 

''  My  dear  B.  &  E., 

"It  is  with  sincere  regret  that  I  am  obKged  to 
answer  your  letter  by  saying  that  though  I  am  exceed- 
ingly hard  at  work  on  the  book,  and  that  it  is  the  one 
business  of  my  days,  it  is  not  as  yet  in  a  state  to  be  put 
into  your  hands.  You  will,  I  know,  accept  in  all  faith 
the  assurance  of  an  old  friend,  that  the  delay  arises 
simply  from  his  resolution  that  the  work  shall  be  as 
good  as  he  can  make  it,  and  consequently  as  valuable 
to  all  of  us,  and  also  that  I  am  much  grieved  and 
disappointed  at  the  delay.  But  I  am  so  convinced 
that  you  are  aware  of  my  feelings  on  the  subject  that 
I  will  not  enter,  at  all  events  in  writing,  into  them, 
but  will  only  request  that  you  will  regard  my  position 
from  a  business  as  well  as  from  a  friendly  point  of  view, 
and  believe  that  the  moment  that  I  can  place  the  MS. 
in  your  hands,  I  shall  do  so  with  more  gratification 
than  I  can  express.  I  have  re-composed  much  of  the 
book,  by  which  I  feel  that  it  is  a  great  gainer,  and  when 
it  is  out  I  will  show  you  in  an  hour*s  confidential  talk 
the  ample  vindication  of  the  delay. 

**  Meantime,  believe  me, 

'*  Ever,  my  dear  B.  &.  E., 

'*  Yours  most  truly, 
"  Shirley  Brooks. 
*'  W.  Bradbury] 

and         VEsqs.** 
"  F.  M.  Evans.  J 

In  a  former  chapter  we  have  considered  Shirley 
as  verse-maker.     We   have  now  from  time  to   time 

200 


TRICK- WRITING 

considered  him  as  novelist  and  found  him  wanting.  One 
reason  for  this  was,  as  has  been  said,  the  exigencies  of 
serial  publication.  But  there  is,  I  think,  another 
reason  not  far  to  seek.  It  was  Shirley,  the  verse-maker, 
who  went  far  to  ruin  Shirley,  the  novelist.  For  I  make 
bold  to  maintain  that  the  habit  of  versifying  is  in  itself 
antagonistic  to  the  clear  thinking  that  we  want  in 
good  prose.  Pure  thought  is  the  primary  occupation 
of  the  mind.  Then  the  conveyance  of  that  thought 
by  the  very  clumsy  vehicle,  language.  So,  when  we 
say  to  the  thinker,  "  Make  us  verses,'*  we  say  in  effect : 
**  We  fully  recognise  the  clumsiness  of  your  medium, 
but  we  insist  on  your  handicapping  yourself  in  its  use 
by  cutting  it  into  given  lengths  and  decorating  it  with 
rhymes.''  Just  as  we  might  say  to  the  butler,  *'  Open 
the  door  as  quietly  as  you  can,  but  don't  omit  to  turn 
a  somersault  as  you  turn  the  handle."  The  result  is 
we  not  only  get  the  door  opened  noisily,  but  we  get 
the  somersault  turned  inadequately.  Sense  and 
rh5mae,  both  beautiful  things  when  left  unwedded,  are 
warring  the  one  against  the  other.  The  wedding  of 
them  presents  a  task  only  to  be  tackled  by  the  greatest. 
That,  I  think,  is  why,  in  these  practical  days,  verse- 
writing  is  a  drug  in  the  market.  We  want  inspired 
sense.  We  do  not  want  trick- writing.  That  has 
been  done  as  well  as  it  can  be  done  in  the  past.  Its 
day  is  over. 

But  when  Shirley  Brooks  lived  there  was  a  great 
love  of  rhyming  in  England,  and  it  had  a  disastrous 
effect  on  him  as  a  writer  of  prose.  The  man  who  is 
for  ever  on  the  look-out  for  rhymes  is  training  himself 

201 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

to  a  fatal  topsy-turveydom.  Where  there  should  first 
be  the  thought,  then  the  clothing  of  it  in  language,  the 
rhymester  first  thinks  of  words,  then  of  the  thoughts 
suggested  by  those  words.  Or,  if  the  thought  does 
come  first,  it  gets  emasculated  by  being  fitted  in  between 
words  that  rhyme.  Verse  may,  I  admit,  give  the 
thought  a  glamour  which  mere  prose  would  not,  but 
that  glamour  is  as  likely  as  not  to  hide  the  thought's 
poverty. 

And  there  is  more  than  this.  Our  rhymester  is 
for  ever  being  led  away  at  tangents  by  thoughts 
suggested  by  his  rhymes.  He  does  not  first  catch  this 
thought  and  forthwith  imprison  it  in  language,  but  in 
his  search  for  bars  he  catches  sight  of  a  dozen  thoughts 
and  goes  hunting  them  through  a  maze  of  pretty 
enough  words  and  never  catching  anything  at  all. 
He  just  gets  hold  of  them  by  their  tails  and  then  loses 
them.  This  is  bad  in  itself,  but  it  is  worse  in  its 
consequences.  Like  journalism,  it  loosens  a  man's 
habit  of  mind.  Like  journalism,  it  makes  him  think 
in  snippets.  Like  journahsm,  it  unfits  him  for  the 
prolonged,  continuous,  steady  mental  effort  necessary 
to  the  production  of  a  well-balanced  book.  The  part 
comes  to  be  of  greater  importance  than  the  whole. 

So  we  find  that  there  were  three  Shirley  Brookses 
standing  in  the  path  of  Shirley  Brooks,  the  novelist. 
First,  there  was  Shirley  Brooks,  the  journahst. 
Secondly,  there  was  Shirley  Brooks,  the  serial-writer. 
Thirdly,  there  was  Shirley  Brooks,  the  versifier  and 
I  rhymester.  And  the  greatest  of  these  three  was  the 
last. 

202 


"  LIMERICKS  " 

Apropos  of  which  we  may  remember  the  words 
which  Mr.  Thomas  Hardy  puts  into  the  mouth  of 
Henry  Knight,  in  '*  A  Pair  of  Blue  Eyes/*  when 
asked  by  Elf  ride  why  he  doesn't  write  a  novel.  *'  We 
all/'  he  says,  '*  have  our  one  cruse  of  energy  given 
us  to  make  the  best  of.  And  where  that  energy  has 
leaked  away  week  by  week,  quarter  by  quarter  .  .  . 
there  is  not  enough  dammed  back  behind  the  mill 
at  any  given  period  to  supply  the  quantum  a  com- 
plete book  on  any  subject  requires.  Then  there  is 
the  self-confidence  and  waiting  power.  Where  quick 
results  have  grown  customary,  they  are  fatal  to  a 
lively  faith  in  the  future." 

At  the  beginning  of  1869  Shirley  began  contributing 
to  Punch  a  series  of  ''  Nursery  Rhymes,"  now  better 
known  as  *'  Limericks."  Many  of  these  were  charm- 
ingly illustrated  by  Charles  Keene  and  du  Maurier. 
They  were,  according  to  a  note  appended  to  the  title, 
"  to  be  continued  until  every  town  in  the  kingdom  had 
been  immortalized,"  but,  although  he  showed  by 
choosing  such  difficult  names  as  Carshalton,  Cirencester, 
and  such  like  that  no  rhyme  was  difficult  enough  to 
daunt  his  ingenuity,  they  did  not  run  to  a  greater 
number  than  thirty-eight.  The  following,  which  has 
point  in  more  senses  than  one,  may  be  given  as  a  good 
example  : — 

"  There  was  a  young  lady  of  Cheadle, 
Who  was  deeply  beloved  by  the  beadle, 
But  she  scoffed  at  his  prayer, 
Left  her  work  on  his  chair 
And  the  beadle  sat  down  on  the  needle !  ** 
203 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

I  have  spoken  of  Shirley's  love  for  children  and  how 
he  was  at  his  best  with  a  crowd  of  them  around  him 
Hstening  round-eyed  to  his  favourite  "  Jabberwock.'* 
And  in  this  he  was  not  singular  amongst  the  Punch  men. 
I  should  like  to  enlarge  upon  this  tender  characteristic 
of  the  remarkable  men  who  have  made  Punch  what  he 
is.  But  this  would  be  going  outside  my  province.* 
One  thing  I  may  do,  however :  I  may  quote  from  Mr. 
Silver's  unpubHshed  records  a  pretty  enough  picture, 
in  which  Shirley  is  one  of  the  prominent  figures  : 

''  Leech,"  says  Mr.  Silver,  "  had  lately  fled  from  the 
barrel-organ  fiends  infesting  Brunswick  Square,  to  the 
fine  old  house  which  Millais  had  found  for  him  in 
Kensington  ;  and  thither  we  were  bidden  on  Wednes- 
day the  25th  of  February  to  his  little  fair-haired 
daughter's  birthday  party.  Ada  would  be  nine  years 
old,  and  she  was  her  father's  special  favourite ;  although 
her  coming  to  the  world  had  cost  him  a  day's  hunting. 
For  just  before  her  birth  he  and  Millais,  who  rode  often 
with  him,  had  just  pulled  on  their  hunting  boots  and 
were  waiting  for  their  horses,  when  suddenly  the  nurse 
summoned  him  to  go  off  for  the  doctor  ! 

"  I  came  a  little  late  on  the  evening  of  the  party, 
and  found  Shirley  standing  at  the  door  of  the  front 
drawing-room. 

'*  Look,"  said  he,  "  the  Guildhall's  come  to 
Kensington.     There  stands  Gog  and  Magog  !  " 

''  The  older  guests,  the  '  grown-ups '  as  they're 
called  now,  were  gathered  in  the  front  room  ;  and  in 
the  other,  which  was  larger,  were  the  children  dancing. 
At  the  corners  facing  us,  and  towering  above  the  little 

*  Besides  which,  is  it  not  well  wiitten  in  the  Xlllth  chapter  of 
the  "  Chronicles  "  of  Mr.  M.  H.  Spielmann  ? 

204 


"ZAMIEUS  OWL" 

dancers,  stood  Thackeray  and  *  Big '  Higgins  of  the 
Times ^  the  famous  *  Jacob  Omnium/  They  were  both 
of  them  four  inches  more  than  six  feet  high,  and  were 
ahke  benignly  smihng  on  the  merrymakers.  It  was 
a  pretty  scene,  and  when  I  told  the  happy  hostess  of 
Shirley's  happy  thought,  she  promised  *  John  '  should 
make  a  sketch  of  it.     But  I  fear  he  never  did  so." 

This  year  James  Davison,  the  well-known  musical 
critic  of  the  Times,  started  in  the  Musical  World,  of 
which  he  was  editor,  a  strange  sort  of  go-as-you-please 
correspondence  column,  to  which  he  himself  contributed 
under  a  variety  of  aliases,  and  Shirley  Brooks,  who  was 
one  of  his  intimate  friends,  under  that  of  ^'Zamiel's 
Owl."* 

There  had  been  for  years  an  interchange  of  amenities 
between  the  two  papers.  For  example,  when  Davison 
married  the  great  pianist,  Arabella  Goddard,  in  1859, 
Shirley  had  written  in  Punch  : — 

''AD  ARABELLAM.  I 

**  A  Fact,  long  known  to  him,  kind  Punch  may  be 
Allowed  to  congratulate  his  rara  avis  on. 
Joy  to  the  Lady  of  the  keys  !     From  G 
The  music  of  her  life's  transposed  to  D, 
And  Arabella  Goddard's  Mrs.  Davison,  f  " 

From  1863  to  the  end  of  his  Hfe  Shirley  con- 
tributed to  Davison's  paper,   his   last  offering  being 

*  For  this  information  I  am  indebted  to  my  friend  Mr.  Charles  L. 
Graves,  who  now  sits  at  the  immortal  "  Table." 

t  Misprinted  **  Davidson  "  in  "  Wit  and  Humour.*'  I  quote  the 
above  from  memory,  and  fancy  I  have  improved  upon  Shirley's 
grammar. 

205 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

a  friendly  little  puff  of  Arthur  Cecil  (Blunt).  This 
appeared  in  the  shape  of  a  nursery  rhyme  in 
December,  1873. 

The  year  1863,  which  had  on  the  whole  been  an 
uneventful  and  happy  one  in  Shirley's  life,  was  destined 
to  a  gloomy  ending.  On  Christmas  Eve  Thackeray 
died.  *'  It  was,*'  wrote  Shirley,  *'  on  a  good  day  for 
himself,  the  journal  and  the  world  that  Thackeray 
found  Punchy''  and  it  was  ''as  if  the  glory  of  Punch 
had  been  irremediably  dimmed,''  when  Shirley  and 
fifteen  thousand  more  of  those  who  mourned  the  great 
satirist  laid  him  to  rest  in  the  cemetery  of  Kensal 
Green.  Thackeray,  ''  the  brave,  true,  honest  gentle- 
man, whom  no  pen  but  his  own  could  depict  as  those 
who  knew  him  would  desire,"  was  gone,  and  the  gaiety 
of  nations  was  eclipsed. 

To  Shirley,  in  common  with  all  the  Punch  men,  the 
blow  was  a  heavy  one,  for  though  Thackeray  had 
retired  from  the  paper,  he  had  continued  in  constant 
intercourse  with  his  old  colleagues. 

Shirley's  part  in  doing  honour  to  his  memory  con- 
sisted, Mrs.  Ritchie  reminds  me,  in  acting  as  secretary 
to  the  fund  for  erecting  the  bust  which  now  stands 
in  Westminster  Abbey — an  office  which  was  no  sinecure 
in  the  case  of  one  who,  like  Shirley,  did  what  had  to  be 
done  with  his  own  hands.  Here  are  three  subsequent 
entries  in  his  diaries,  from  which  it  is  plain  that  it 
was  easier  to  get  promises  of  support  than  to  see 
those  [promises  realised,  and  that  the  whole  burden 
of  the  matter  rested  on  the  honorary  secretary's 
shoulders. 

206 


THACKERAY^S  BUST 

"  Nov.  2\st,  1865. 

'*  Two  o'clock.  Have  just  returned  with  E.  from 
the  Abbey,  where,  at  twelve  to-day.  Baron  Marochetti 
removed  the  covering  from  the  bust  of 

'  W.  M.  T.,' 

in  the  presence  of  the  daughters,  his  baroness,  and 
ourselves.  The  Dean,  Stanley,  came  in  later.  So, 
I  have  done  my  work  for  my  friend  and  I  am  rejoiced 
thereat.     S.  B." 

"  March  3rd,  1869. 

*'  Looked  into  the  Abbey,  to  see  bust  of  W.  M.  T., 
which  I  have  not  seen  since  Macaulay's  was  put  next. 
Looks,  now,  as  if  part  of  the  place,  and  I  rejoice  in  my 
work,  for  '  alone  I  did  it/ '' 

''April  leth,  1869.  '\^^':^^ii' 

(Three-and-a-half  years  after  the  bust  had  been 
unveiled  !) 

'*  Sent  Farrer  &  Ouvry  cheque  for  £100  balance  due 
to  Marochetti's  executors,  and  thus  disposed  of  a 
matter  that  has  given  me  more  trouble  than  I  antici- 
pated, but  I  rejoice  to  have  done  a  friend's  duty  by 
W.  M.  T.  I  am  a  deal  out  of  pocket,  but  mean  to  have 
some  back  from  those  who  ought  to  assist." 


2ff7 


CHAPTER  XII 

1864 — ^The  Shakespeare  Tercentenary— A  Royal  Recluse — "  Judy 
Parties  " — Letters — ^The  Autograph  Fiend — ^The  Anglo-Danish 
Question — Gout — Hymn  to  St.  Trophimus — "  Sooner  or  Later  " 
— A  "  Breeze  "  with  Messrs.  Bradbury  &  Evans — Illness  and 
Death  of  Leech — Advent  of  du  Maurier  to  the  Table. 


HE  year  1 1864  marked  the 
tercentenary  of  Shake- 
speare's birth,  and  '*  The 
Shakespeare  National  Com- 
mittee"  contemplated 
gilding  the  lily,  and  painting 
the  rose .  From  the  following 
letter,  as  well  as  from  much 
which  appeared  in  the  pages 
of  Punch  about  this  time,  it 
is  clear  that  Shirley  had 
little  sympathy  with  the 
movement.  Hepworth 
Dixon,  with  whom  he  was  afterwards  on  friendly 
terms,  was  at  this  time  editor  of  the  Athenceum, 
the  organ  of  the  dominant  executive  of  the  ''  Fund,'* 
and  Punch  certainly  did  not  mince  matters  in 
dealing  with  him  and  his  colleagues.  He  suggested 
that  '*  The  Shakespeare  Incapables,''  as  he  called  them, 
should  perform  a  Shakespearian  Shadow  Pantomime, 
and  continued :  "  We  think  one  of  the  old  women  who 

208 


A  HINT  TO  THE  QUEEN 

sit  on  the  Committee  might  be  readily  selected  to  take 
the  part  of  columbine  ;  and  there  need  surely  be  small 
labour  in  looking  for  a  clown,  when  so  many  of  the 
Committee  have  been  known  to  play  the  fool/*  Finally, 
having  thrown  all  the  cold  water  he  could  on  a  national 
memorial,  which  one  enthusiast  proposed  should  take 
the  form  of  a  porcelain  tower  a  hundred  feet  high  ''  to 
enliven  the  scenery  of  the  birthplace  of  the  sweet 
Swan  of  Avon,''  Punch  paid  due  homage  to  the 
immortal  bard,  by  producing  his  own  superb 
"  Tercentenary  Number.'*  That  is  one  of  the  many 
matters  alluded  to  in  the  following  letter. 

''  Leah "  refers  to  the  American  actress,  Kate 
Josephine  Bateman,  who  appeared  210  times  in  that 
role  in  the  play  of  "  Deborah  "  at  the  Adelphi. 

The  "  cut "  referred  to  is  that  entitled  ''  What  the 
Nation  hopes  to  see,"  which  was  prompted  by  the 
same  motive  which  suggested  Shirley's  ''  Loyal 
Whisper  to  a  Royal  Recluse  "  : — 

"  Nay,  let  my  people  see  me."     Kind 

Was  she  whom  then  our  cheers  were  greeting ; 
Now,  would  that  Lady  bear  in  mind 

That  words  like  those  are  worth  repeating." 

The  article,  ''  What  it  is  Coming  To,"  was  a  skit 
upon  the  too  great  leniency  shown  towards  criminals 
by  the  magistrates  of  the  day. 

The  ''  mangling  of  one  Passmore  Edwards  "  took 
place  in  an  article  entitled  ''  A  Mechanical  Donkey." 

Under  the  title  '*  Starvation  Parties  "  in  the  same 
number  Shirley  advocated  a  simpler  style  of  entertain- 
ment than  was  then  in  vogue,   following  the  good 

209 

15— (2297) 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

example  set  by  the  ladies  of  the  Confederate  States  of 
America,  amongst  whom  money  was  at  that  time  very 
scarce.  ''  Judy  Parties  *'  he  proposed  to  call  them, 
and  continued:  ''Husbands  will  be  found  far  more 
pliable,  in  the  matter  of  party-giving,  when  wives 
point  out  that  everybody  has  gone  away  pleased,  and 
yet  the  cheque  wanted  for  the  expenses  of  the  night  is 
a  very  small  one/' 

8.  B.  TO  Percival  Leigh. 

"  Monday,  Jan.  ISth,  1864. 

"  My  dear  Professor, 

"  Your  note  was  very  welcome — all  your  notes  are. 
There  is  a  beastly  fog  which  penetrates  to  one's  brains, 
and  makes  it  impossible  to  write  anything  worth  read- 
ing, so  I  shall  go  to  the  Shakespeare  Committee,  and 
do  my  duty  in  wrangling  and  hearing  wrangle.  I  think 
the  thing  will  come  a  cropper.  I  could  not  well  be  out 
of  the  business,  when  I  have  all  along  held  that  the 
idea  of  a  memorial  was  foolish.  The  real  memorial 
is  in  the  fact  that  England  thinks  and  talks  Shake- 
speare. It  would  be  almost  as  reasonable,  to  speak 
with  due  reverence,  were  we  to  propose  to  erect  a 
memorial  to  the  Author  of  the  Bible,  for  fear  He 
should  be  forgotten.  I  think,  however,  that  Theodore 
Martin,  Tom  Taylor,  and  yours  truly,  who  are  like  the 
Three  Anabaptists  in  the  '  Prophete,'  have  done  a  good 
deal  in  the  way  of  hindering  downright  bosh,  prize 
poems,  '  special  services,*  and  the  hke,  and  we  are  not 
without  hope  of  showing  the  General  Committee  that 
there  is  no  time  to  prepare  a  worthy  memorial.  The 
Mayor  of  Stratford  called  on  me  on  Saturday,  but 
missed  me.  I  fancy  he  wants  me  to  join  them.  I 
shall  not,  but  their  celebration  is  all  very  well,  a  jolly 
Shakespearian  fete,  a^  it  were,  with  the  '  Messiah,'  by 

m 


THE  BATEMANS 

way  of  infusing  a  little  gravity  into  the  business. 
Hep  worth  Dixon  has  been  awfully  sat  upon.  You 
will  see  that  I  continue  to  '  note '  the  Thackeray 
matter.  I  hope  you  liked  my  memoir  in  the 
Illustrated,  or  did  you  see  it  ?    If  not  I  will  send  it  to  you. 

'*  My  dear  Leigh,  Fve  nothing  to  tell  you.  We, 
that  is  my  wife  and  me,  dined  with  Leah,  not  Leech, 
though  it  looks  like  it.*  He  has  returned  to  town  last 
night,  and  when  I  tell  you  the  party  and  the  fare,  you 
will  see  that  there  were  materials  for  a  pleasant  evening. 
The  Batemans  are  the  nicest  Americans  I  ever  met, 
in  fact  quite  English.  She  is  not,  I  apprehend,  very 
clever,  except  in  her  calling,  but  something  better, 
and  as  merry  as  a  bird.  The  mother  is  clever,  and 
dramatised  Evangeline  for  Kate,  to  Longfellow's 
satisfaction.  They  have  constant  relays  of  American 
food  :  yesterday  we  had  wild  turkey  (noble  bird), 
canvas-backed  ducks  (perfect),  corn  (Cobbett's),  and 
hominy — you  can't  read  that — Hominy.  Very  fine 
wines.  To  eat  and  drink  and  laugh  came  Oxenford, 
Webster,  Robert  Bell,  Charley  Kenney  and  his  pretty 
wife,  and  us.  Perhaps  there  were  too  many  quinces 
in  the  apple-pie,  for  I  think  half  a  party  ought  to  be 
fools,  or  silent,  and  everybody  wanted  to  both  talk 
and  listen,  which  is  a  problem  of  difficult  solution. 
But  we  were  very  merry  from  5.30  to  12.30. 

''  The  cut  this  week  will  be  the  new  baby  and  the 
Queen, ^  a  hint  to  the  Dowager  Lady  Guelph  to  come 
out.  If  you  have  any  ideas  for  the  next  do  send  me 
a  line  on  Tuesday  night.  The  article  '  What  it  is 
Coming  To '  is  mine,  and  a  Crawley  bit.  I  have 
mangled  one  Passmore  Edwards,  who  wrote  Mark  a 
frantic    letter.      I     have    advocated     Judy    parties, 

*  Referring  to  his  indistinct  writing  of  the  word, 
t  Vid0  Punch  for  Jan.  23rd,  1864. 

211 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

modelled  on  our  own.  I  mean  some  which  the  ladies 
of  the  Punch  lot  hold.  Fred  Evans's  wife,  Charley 
Dickens's,  mine,  etc.  No  dress,  no  wine,  except  sherry, 
but  a  pretty  supper  :  beer,  grog,  baccy,  and  the  ladies 
don't  retire,  and  everybody  does  at  11.  Ask  Mrs.  Fred 
if  that  isn't  sensible  ?  Have  you  heard  this  ?  A  man 
enters  the  law  to  get  on,  keeps  in  it  to  get  honour y 
comes  out  of  it  to  get  honest.  This  to  Fred,  with  all 
my  regards. 

"  Ever, 
"S.  B." 

Next  in  order  of  date  comes  a  letter,  lent  to  me  by 
Mr.  W.  L.  Fleming,  which  may  be  recommended  as  a 
model  reply  to  the  autograph  hunter  : — 

S.  B.  TO  A.  Vogue. 

"  Regent's  Park, 

"Whit-Tuesday,  1864. 

"  Sir, 

'*  I  am  happy  to  hear  that  I  have  so  many  good 
qualities,  as  you  assign  to  me,  and  I  am,  in  addition, 

'*  Your  obedient  servant, 

''  Shirley  Brooks. 
'*  A.  Vogue,  Esq." 

"  Although  Shirley  was  always  a  most  welcome  guest 
elsewhere,"  writes  Mr.  Silver,  '*  he  very  seldom  missed 
a  dinner  at  the  Punch  Table.  His  first  absence  through 
ill-health  occurred  in  'sixty-four,  on  the  20th  of  April, 
when  Mr.  Punch  received  his  friends  in  Bouverie 
Street  as  usual,  after  giving  them  a  luncheon  in  St. 
Bride's  Court,  Fleet  Street,  to  welcome  Garibaldi  on  his 
visit  to  the  City.  On  the  following  Wednesday  Mark 
showed  a  note  from  Shirley,  saying  that  he  was  '  full 
of  morphia  and  misery,'  and  that  *  Pater  must  let  you 
fellows  have  some  of  what  he  calls  champagne  that  you 

212 


THE  DANO-GERMAN  QUESTION 

may  drink  to  my  good  health,  for  I  shall  be  forty-nine 
next  Friday.' 

"  Christian  Science  was  unknown  in  those  unenlight- 
ened days,  or  its  professors  might  have  claimed  that 
our  good  wishes  helped  to  cure  him.  For  in  the  next 
week  he  rejoined  us,  and  made  several  good  shots  at 
the  Big  Cut.  One  of  the  best  was  '  Gulliver  John  Bull 
Capturing  the  Austrian  Ships,'  which  had  arrived  in  the 
Downs,  where  our  Channel  Fleet  was  watching.  This, 
however,  he  amended  to  '  The  Burglars  and  the 
Bobby,'  a  title  which  gave  place  to  '  The  Aggravated 
Policeman ' — Mr.  Bull  threatening  Austria  and 
Prussia,  who  had  broken  into  Denmark,  and  who,  as 
Shirley  next  week  added  (by  reason  of  the  armistice) 
were  '  remanded  for  a  month.'  " 

The  Dano-German  question  was  now  causing  great 
anxiety  in  this  country.  The  Austrian  and  Prussian 
allied  forces  had  invaded  Denmark,  and  England  was 
threatening  to  send  a  fleet  to  the  Baltic  to  insist  upon 
the  maintenance  of  Danish  security  and  independence. 
But  the  Government  at  the  last  moment  refused  to  take 
the  responsibility  of  plunging  the  country  into  war, 
and  Punch  decided  to  support  the  Government.  This 
decision  resulted  in  the  fine  cartoon  by  Tenniel, 
mentioned  by  Mr.  Silver,  in  which  John  Bull,  as 
Policeman  Al,  rather  unsatisfactorily  threatens  the 
two  burglars,  Austria  and  Prussia,  '*  You're  not  on  our 
beat,  you  scamps,  or  I'd  let  you  see." 

This  non-possumus  view  of  the  case  was  by  no  means 
popular  in  the  country,  more  particularly  because  the 
outrage  was  being  committed  on  the  father  of  the  then 
Princess  of  Wales,  our  present  beloved  Queen 
Alexandra.     This  fact  was  quaintly  alluded  to  in  the 

213 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

*'  Police  Court  Extraordinary  *'  in  Punch  for  the 
following  week,  where  ''  two  ruffianly  looking  person- 
ages of  foreign  appearance  .  .  .  were  charged  with  an 
aggravated  assault  ...  on  a  poor  little  Dane, 
Christian  Glucksbourg,  who,  it  was  stated  in  the 
Court  .  .  .  has  a  daughter  very  respectably  married  in 
this  country'* 

The  reference  in  Mr.  Silver^s  note  to  '*  misery  and 
morphia  "  shows  that  Shirley  was  already  beginning 
to  suffer  from  the  recurrent  attacks  of  gout,  which 
punished  him  so  severely  for  the  remainder  of  his  life. 
As  time  went  on  his  sufferings  became  very  acute,  but 
he  never  allowed  them  to  interfere  with  his  work,  when 
work  was  possible,  perpetually  rising  superior  to  the 
depressing  effects  of  the  disease  and  its  very  drastic 
remedies.  Indeed,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  turn  into 
a  joke  for  the  amusement  of  the  public  what  was 
anything  but  a  joke  to  himself.  Tragedy  and  comedy 
were  not  far  removed  when  he  wrote  his  ''  Hymn  to 
St.  Trophimus,''  the  saint  whose  bones  repose  in  the 
church  of  St.  Philip  Neri,  and  are  supposed  to  have  the 
peculiar  virtue  of  curing  gout,  lumbago  and  rheuma- 
tism. For  the  moment  he  changed  his  old  pen-name 
of  Epicurus  Rotundus  into  Epicurus  Arthriticus,  and 
wrote  with  a  wry  enough  face  : — 

*'  Yes,  culpa  mea  !   I  have  loved,  and  fear  may  love  again. 

Hock,  Sherry,  ChabHs,  Burgundy,  Moselle,  Yquem,  Champagne, 
Lafitte,  Old  Port,  Noyeau,  Chartreuse,  Madeira,  Punch  in  Ice ; 
And  golly  !   good  St.  Trophimus,  ain't  Maraschino  nice  ?  " 

And  so  he  goes  on  through  sixteen  verses,  praying 
desperately  for  relief,  but  ending  up  all  unrepentant  : — 

214 


"ODE  TO  ST.  TROPHIMUS" 

"  O  cure  me,  dear  St.  Trophimus,  and  send  me  hack  again 
To  Hock,  Moselle,  and  Burgundy,  Y quern,  LafiUe,  Champagne.'* 

And,  it  must  be  confessed,  these  verses  contained  a 
chapter  of  his  autobiography.  He  loved  good  eating 
and  drinking,  and,  when  he  was  well,  forgot  that  he  i 
had  been  ill.  He  did  what  all  of  us  do — he  sowed  his 
oats  and  trusted  to  Providence  to  see  that  they  did  not 
come  to  fruition. 

"  Yes,  mea  magna  culpa  !   *  When  the  Turtle's  voice  is  heard ' 
I  always  take  three  plates,  not  always  stopping  at  the  third  : 
When  other  soups  are  going,  and  I'm  puzzled  to  take  which, 
Richesse  oblige,  I  make  a  choice  of  that  as  looks  most  rich. 
m  *  mi 

"  Truffles,  St.  Trophimus,  I  take  in  every  given  form, 
Enriching  other  viands,  or  in  paste  alone,  and  warm  : 
They  keep  me  humble,  dear  St.  T.,  upon  my  word  they  do, 
They  preach  a  lesson  that  a  man's  himself  a  fungus  too." 

And  then  he  completely  gives  himself  away  : — 

"  I  take  but  little  exercise,  it  really  seems  so  hard 

From  honest  gains  a  cabman  should  unkindly  be  debarred. 
♦  *  ♦ 

And  I  have  gout,  St.  Trophimus,  which  makes  me  wince  and  roar. 
And  wonder  what  I've  done  to  earn  a  punishment  so  sore." 

Of  course,  he  didn't  wonder,  he  knew  perfectly  well, 
but  he  shut  his  eyes  to  consequences,  and  the  gout 
and  the  truffles  and  the  turtle-soup  and  the  champagne 
and  his  sedentary  life  eventually  killed  him,  as  it  is  I 
kilhng  so  many  of  us  to-day.  It  was  the  old  story 
over  again  : — 

"  Indeed,  indeed  Repentance  oft  before 
I  swore — but  was  I  sober  when  I  swore  ? 
And  then,  and  then  came  Spring,  and  Rose-in-hand 
My  threadbare  Penitence  apieces  tore." 
215 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

The  following  letter  shows  that  Shirley^s  novel, 
*'  Sooner  or  Later/'  still  hung  fire,  partly  no  doubt 
because  of  morphia  and  misery.  *'  Pater  ''  Evans  had 
evidently  given  him  a  sharp  reminder,  and  Shirley's 
nerves  were  a  little  on  edge  with  overwork  : — 

S.  B.  TO  F.  M.  Evans. 

"  6  Kent  Terrace, 

*'  Regent's  Park,  N.W., 
"  April  2Sth,  '63. 

''My  dear  Evans,  ,  J 

*'  I  will  not  answer  the  question,  what  you  *  can  ' 
think,  but  I  will  say  that  what  one  expects  a  friend  to 
think  is  that  his  friend  having  given  a  promise  is  doing 
his  utmost  to  redeem  it,  and  is  not  likely  to  be  helped, 
in  work  demanding  the  best  state  of  mind,  by  an 
implied  imputation. 

'*  Lemon  writes  me,  through  another  hand,  that  he  is 
laid  up  with  neuralgia  in  the  eyes.  If  he  telegraphs 
to  me  that  he  wishes  me  to  attend  and  get  up  the  large 
cut  to-morrow,  it  will  be  my  duty  to  do  so,  otherwise 
my  next  visit  to  B.  Street  would  certainly  not  have 
preceded  the  delivery  of  the  MS. 

'*  Yours  very  sincerely, 

"  S.  Brooks. 
"  F.  M.  Evans,  Esq." 

That  Messrs.  Bradbury  &'  Evans  with  their  usual 
generosity  took  no  offence,  as  they  might  well  have 
done,  and  treated  him  with  all  possible  consideration, 
is  evident  from  the  following,  written  some  months 
later.  No  doubt  they  were  accustomed  to  the 
irritability  of  the  genus  author. 

216 


^*  SOONER  OR  LATERE* 

S.  B.  TO  F.  M.  Evans. 

**  6  Kent  Terrace, 

**  Regent's  Park,  N.W., 
"  August  1th,  '63. 

'*  My  dear  Evans, 

'  **  Though  leaving  town  for  work,  I  cannot  go 
without  addressing  a  Hne  to  Bradbury  and  yourself 
on  a  subject  which  occupies  me  by  day  and  by  night. 
It  shall  be  Uttle  more  than  a  line,  because  I  hope  very 
soon  to  send  you  what  will  be  more  acceptable.  I  will 
not,  in  writing,  enter  into  the  disturbing  causes  which 
have  hindered  the  completion  of  my  book,  but  when 
I  say  that  some  painful  family  matters,  not  affecting 
ourselves  except  indirectly,  but  most  vexatious  and 
irritating,  and  requiring  perpetual  interference, 
'  cropped  up  '  at  the  moment  when  I  thought  all 
smooth,  you  will  both  comprehend  that  though  it  was 
not  necessary  to  ask  your  indulgence,  I  might  have 
done  so,  had  not  your  kindness  made  it  unnecessary. 
I  will  tell  you  something  of  this,  some  day,  when  we 
three  are  together,  and  have  nothing  pleasanter  to 
speak  of.  Meantime  I  am  going  away  into  a  quiet 
retreat  to  work,  and  I  hope  to  give  a  very  good  account 
of  myself  at  an  early  date.  The  P.  P.*  book  will  testify 
that  hov/ever  continuous  labour  has  been  interrupted, 
I  have  never  forgotten  our  friend  P.,  and  I  shall  send 
up  regularly  to  Mark. 

'*  I  hope  to  go  on  Thursday  ;  if  I  do  not  see  you 
before,  this  is  a  handshake  which  I  beg  you  to  pass 
on  to  my  friend  Bradbury  when  you  see  him. 

'*  Beheve  me,  dear  Pater, 

''  Yours  ever  faithfully, 
**  Shirley  Brooks. 
*'  F.  M.  Evans,  Esq. 

•  *  Punch  Pocket-Book. 

217 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

"  P.S.— I  will  send  you  my  exact  address  as  soon  as 
I  know  it.  Let  me  add  that  I  have  no  doubt  of  handing 
you  the  complete  MS.  before  the  end  of  the  year'' 

Eventually,  as  we  know,  the  novel  got  finished,  and, 
after  running  serially,  was  published  in  book  form  in 
1868. 

On  April  the  7th  Mr.  Gladstone  in  his  Budget  speech, 
which  Shirley  described  as  *'  a  magnificent  intellectual 
effort,**  proposed  a  reduction  of  the  Income  Tax  and 
Sugar  Duties.  The  difiiculty  was  to  embody  the 
subject  in  a  cartoon.  Shirley  came  out  with  the 
unfamiliar  Shakespearian  quotation  : — 

"  Vain  flourish  of  my  fortune  ! 
Why  strew'st  thou  sugar  on  that  bottled  spider, 
Whose  deadly  web  ensnareth  thee  about  ?  " 

but  Tenniel  objected  that  there  were  limits  to  the 
suggestiveness  even  of  his  powerful  pencil,  and  that 
to  make  a  bottled  spider  look  like  the  Income  Tax  was 
beyond  the  realms  of  Art ! 

At  the  next  Punch  dinner,  as  Shirley  noted  in  his 
diary  of  that  date,  John  Leech  was  ''  clearly  ill." 
Later  on  Shirley  recorded  of  this  dinner  : — 

*'  He  complained  of  illness  and  pain,  and  I  saw  that 
it  was  difficult  to  make  him  grasp  the  meaning  of 
things  that  were  said  to  him  without  two  or  three 
repetitions.     He  left  early  with  Tom  Taylor.'* 

In  the  autumn  Leech  went  to  Whitby,  whence  he 
wrote  to  the  Brookses  that  their  joining  him 
would  induce  him  to  prolong  his  stay.  They  started 
at  once,  determined  that,  if  Whitby  were  benefiting 

218 


AT  WHITBY 

his  health,  he  should  not  leave  it  for  lack  of  their 
companionship. 

At  Whitby,  where  they  remained  until  Leech 
returned  to  London,  Shirley  attended  a  concert  at 
St.  Hilda's  Hall  to  hear  Grisi,  Mario,  Sainton  and  his 
wife,  and  records  in  his  diary  :  *'  Introduced  to  Grisi, 
who  was  in  a  vile  temper.*'  Of  the  entertainment  he 
sent  a  characteristic  account  to  the  Musical  World, 
concluding  as  follows  : — 

"  I  was  dressed  in  a  black  coat,  waistcoat,  and 
trowsers,  white  cravat,  lavender  gloves,  and  patent 
leather  boots,  and  the  little  boys  of  Whitby,  un- 
accustomed to  such  splendour,  cheered  me  as  I  came 
out,  privately  and  alone,  to  dip  my  beak  in  the  gascon 
wine,  that  is,  in  some  excellent  beer,  in  which  I  now 
drink  your  health. 

"  If  you  have  another  reporter,  your  own  special, 
in  the  town  (I  saw  two  or  three  persons  who  looked 
disreputable  and  enthusiastic  enough  to  be  musical 
critics — or  even  dustmen),  and  he  had  kept  sober  and 
sent  you  a  report,  you  need  not  print  this.  I  do  not 
care  a  horse's  mamma  whether  you  print  it  or  not. 
But  I  had  a  delightful  evening,  and  I  do  not  care  who 
knows  it ;  in  fact,  I  wish  everybody  to  know  it,  and 
that  is  why  I  write  to  your  widely  circulated  (and 
widely  yawned-over)  journal.  You  have  not  been 
over  civil  to  me,  of  late,  which  is  very  ungrateful. 
You  may  say,  with  an  attempt  at  wit,  that  the  owl 
was  a  baker's  child,  and  therefore  crusty.  I  believe 
that  you  could  win  the  prize  for  the  worst  conundrum 
in  any  circus  in  Yorkshire. 

*'  Receive  the  assurance  of  my  profound  respect, 

'*  Ever  yours, 
**  Whitbyr  ''  Zamiel's  Owl. 

219 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

On  Oct.  3rd  they  were  back  in  London,  and  a  fort- 
j    night  later  Leech  was  in  articulo.     Here  is  the  entry 
from  the  diary  : — 

*'  I  called  at  27  Bouverie  Street,  and  heard  from 
Evans  that  he  was  very  ill.  We  went  off  to  the  Terrace, 
Kensington.  He  was  in  bed,  but  no  one  seemed 
frightened,  and  there  was  a  child's  party — a  small  one. 
Mrs.  Leech  was  in  tears,  but  certainly  had  no  reason 
to  apprehend  the  worst.  He  would  have  seen  us. 
We  remained  three-quarters  of  an  hour  or  so,  but  an 
opiate  had  been  given,  so  it  was  of  course  felt  that  he 
ought  not  to  be  disturbed.'' 

**  At  7  o'clock  that  night,"  wrote  Shirley  in  the 
Illustrated  London  News,  ''  it  pleased  God  to  release 
him  from  sufferings  so  severe  as  even  to  make  the 
brave,  patient,  enduring  man  say  that  they  were  almost 
more  than  he  could  bear."  And  on  Sunday,  October 
30th,  ''  After  hearing  all  he  (Evans)  could  say,  I  went 
with  him  to  telegraph  to  Mark  Lemon,  and  also  to 
Leech's.  Millais  and  Leigh  at  the  door.  Heard  much 
from  them.  Mrs.  Chester  came  up.  Charles  Eaton, 
Mrs.  Leech's  brother  and  best  friend,  had  come.  We 
went  in  and  saw  him.  .  .  .  He  looked  noble  in  his 
calm ;  the  hair  and  whiskers  put  back  gave  up  his 
fine  forehead  and  handsome  features,  and  the  eternal 
stillness  gave  his  face  an  elevated  expression.  I  looked 
a  very  long  time  on  my  old  friend's  face.  We  had 
known  one  another  many  years,  and  he  has  been 
engaged  with  me  in  business  as  well  as  pleasure.  He 
was  very  kind,  very  good,  and  is  in  heaven,  whatever 
that  means." 

This  was  followed  on  Nov.  12th  by  Shirley's  public 
eulogy  in  the  pages  of  the  periodical  which  Leech  had 
so  well  and  truly  served. 

220 


DEATH   OF  LEECH 

*'  John  Leech. 

"  Obiit  October  XXIX,  MDCCCLXIV. 

"  JEt3,t  46. 

**  The  simplest  words  are  best  where  all  words  are 
vain.  Ten  days  ago  a  great  artist,  in  the  noon  of  life, 
and  with  his  glorious  mental  faculties  in  full  power, 
but  with  the  shade  of  physical  infirmity  darkening 
upon  him,  took  his  accustomed  place  among  friends 
who  have  this  day  (Nov.  4th)  held  his  pall.  Some  of 
them  had  been  fellow- workers  with  him  for  a  quarter- 
of-a-century,  others  for  fewer  years  ;  but  to  know  him 
well  was  to  love  him  dearly,  and  all  in  whose  name  these 
lines  are  written  mourn  as  for  a  brother.  His  monu- 
ment is  in  the  volumes  of  which  this  is  one  sad  leaf, 
and  in  a  hundred  works  which  at  this  hour  few  will 
remember  more  easily  than  those  who  have  just  left 
his  grave.  While  society,  whose  every  phase  he  has 
illustrated  with  a  truth,  a  grace,  and  a  tenderness 
heretofore  unknown  to  satiric  art,  gladly  and  proudly 
takes  charge  of  his  fame,  they,  whose  pride  in  the 
genius  of  a  great  associate  was  equalled  by  their 
affection  for  an  attached  friend,  would  leave  on  record 
that  they  have  known  no  kindher,  more  refined,  or 
more  generous  nature  than  that  of  him  who  has  been 
thus  early  called  to  his  rest.'* 

That  was  a  proper  tribute  to  one  who  during  twenty- 
three  years  had  contributed  no  fewer  than  three 
thousand  drawings  to  Punchy  of  which  at  least  six 
hundred  were  cartoons,  and  whose  pencil  had  never 
suggested  an  impure  thought  or  lent  itself  to  the 
rousing  of  unkindly  passion.  *'  The  good  ship  had," 
in  Shirley's  own  words,  ''  lost  its  mainsail,''  and  all 
with  whom  Leech  had  worked  should  surely  vie  one 
with  the  other  to  do  him  reverence.     But  that  he  was 

221 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

disappointed  at  the  slackness  in  this  respect  of  at  least 
one  of  his  colleagues  is  obvious  from  the  following 
undated  letter,  the  latter  part  of  which  would  seem 
to  refer  to  the  surprising  fact  that  Leech's  death  was 
passed  over  in  silence  by  Once  a  Week,  whose  pages 
his  work  had  so  constantly  brightened  and  adorned. 

S.  B.  TO  Percival  Leigh. 

"  6  Kent  Terrace, 

"  Regent's  Park, 

**  Saturday. 

''  My  dear  Leigh, 

"  (I  write,  however,  at  B.  &  E.'s,  having  just  done.) 
I  hope  you  are  enjoying  yourself.  I  can't  say  that 
I  exactly  are,  having  the  vilest  influenza,  added  to 
which,  having  steeped  my  senses  in  chlorodine,  I  came 
down  here  at  12  to-day,  thinking  there  would  be  little 
or  nothing  to  do,  and  find  Stacy  wants  4J  columns,  or 
the  P.P.*  can't  come  out.  Que  voulez-vous,  the  thing 
had  to  be  done,  and  was  done,  but  how  ?  Bishop  and 
excursions,  New  York  Herald,  ''  Georges,"  Nursery 
Rhymes,  etc.,  etc.     Such  is  life. 

'*  That  was  a  long  puff  of  J.  L.,  well  deserved  by  him, 
but  we  ought  to  have  had  more  said,  as  I  imparted 
very  frankly  to  the  discomfited  Lucas,  f  Mark  is  in 
the  d — dest  rage,  and  I  think  won't  let  L.  come  to  any 
more  dinners. 

"  Kindest  regards  to  Fred.  I  am  too  used  up  to 
send  a  story. 

'*  Ever, 

"  S.  B." 

When  Leech's  twenty-one  coloured  etchings  from 
the  Pocket-Books  were  re-published  under  the  title  of 

*  Punch  Pocket-Book.  f  Editor  of  Once  a  Week. 

222 


GEORGE  DU  MAURIER 

"  The  Follies  of  the  Year/'  Shirley  seized  the  oppor- 
tunity of  associating  his  name  with  that  of  his  dear 
friend,  by  contributing  the  descriptive  letterpress  which 
gives  unity  to  these  delightful  productions. 

The  vacancy  at  the  Table  caused  by  Leech's  death 
was  taken  by  George  du  Maurier,  and  Mr.  Silver  tells 
me  that,  on  his  first  appearance,  he  made  the  Staff 
a  little  uncomfortable  by  referring  to  his  blindness. 
After  complaining  that  people  were  for  ever  calling  him 
*'  de  Maurier,*'  and  expressing  the  hope  that  the  Punch 
men  would  give  the  devil  his  "  du,'*  he  went  on  to 
remind  them  that  he  was  blind  of  one  eye,  and  begged 
them  to  pardon  him  if  he  failed  at  any  time  to  ''  see  ** 
a  subject  that  might  be  suggested  for  his  pencil. 

"  But,'*  said  Shirley,  '*  Tenniel  has  only  one  eye  left, 
and  it  really  is  the  left,  for  he  lost  his  right  while  fencing, 
whilst  you  have  your  right  eye  left.  So  you  see  you 
two  fellows  have  two  good  eyes  between  you,  and  a  pair 
of  good  eyes  are  far  better  than  a  score  of  bad  ones. 
In  the  country  of  the  bhnd,  you  know,  the  one-eyed 
man  is  king,  and  here  we're  blind  as  bats — to  one 
another's  failings.  So  I  drink  to  your  good  health, 
you  two  one-eyed  royal  Majesties." 

That  was  very  characteristic  of  Shirley.  Faced  with 
an  awkward  situation — and  the  situation  is  always 
awkward  when  a  man  refers  to  any  physical  disability 
from  which  he  may  chance  to  suffer — his  ready  wit 
would  at  once  respond  to  the  necessity  of  saving  the 
situation.  It  was  part  and  parcel  of  his  kind- 
heartedness — a  kind-heartedness  which  mellowed  and 
ripened  the  older  he  grew.    And  this  mellowing  of  his 

223 


SHIRLEY   BROOKS 

character  was  very  marked  as  the  years  went  on. 
Without  setting  up  to  be  a  good  man,  he  did  not  fail 
to  discover  what  most  good  men  discover,  that  Life  is 
not  nearly  so  complicated  a  thing  as  it  at  first  appears. 
When  we  are  young,  things  seem  to  be  in  an  angry 
confusion.  But  as  we  grow  older,  that  is,  if  our  minds 
grow  riper  instead  of  more  rotten,  if  our  hearts  remain 
sound  though  our  bodies  are  decaying,  things  become 
simpler  and  we  seem  to  catch  glimpses  of  a  well- 
intentioned  plan.  What  that  plan  is  we  may  not  find, 
but  that  there  is  a  plan,  and  a  good  one,  seems  probable. 
There  seem  to  be  causes  and  consequences,  not  chances 
and  accidents.  Great  events  are  discovered  to  be  very 
small  events.  Many  little  things  prove  themselves 
greater  than  the  great  things,  because  they  have  in  them 
greater  potentialities.  The  spark  shot  from  a  match, 
which  sets  a  city  on  fire,  is  far  more  important  than 
a  bursting  shell  shot  from  a  hundred-ton  gun,  which 
plunges  into  the  sea.  A  great  sermon  of  sixty  minutes 
by  Mr.  Boanerges  is  no  more  likely  to  have  an  effect 
upon  conduct  than  a  well-placed  jibe  by  Master  Joseph 
Miller,  which  lasts  just  half  as  many  seconds.  You 
may  perhaps  beat  sin  out  of  your  son,  though  I  doubt 
it,  with  forty  stripes  save  one.  His  mother  will  kiss 
it  out  with  forty  kisses  save  thirty-nine.  You  will  do 
more  by  kindness  in  a  minute  than  by  harshness  in  a 
lifetime.  But  you  do  not  learn  this  all  at  once,  any 
more  than  you  learn  that  a  monkey  has  a  man  in  him 
and  a  man  a  monkey  in  him.  Shirley  did  not  learn 
it  at  once  just  as  Punch  did  not.  In  common  they 
started  life  with  rude  and  unmannerly  jibes,  as  most 

224 


THE   "PUNCH"   TRADITION 

professional  jesters  do.  At  first  they  shot  folly  with 
a  blunderbuss  as  it  flew.  Later  they  learned  that  to 
tickle  it  with  a  feather  was  just  as  effective.  The  older 
they  grew  the  more  they  laughed,  the  less  they  sneered. 
The  older  they  grew  the  more  they  sympathised,  the 
less  they  despised.  They  found  that  love,  kindness, 
goodwill  were  more  worthy  of  cultivation  than  hate, 
indignation  and  cynicism. 

Thus  they  themselves  grew  gentler,  kinder,  more 
humane.  They  mellowed  and  ripened  because  their 
hearts  were  sound.  They  did  not  grow  increasingly 
indignant  with  life  like  the  Swifts,  the  Ruskins,  the 
Carlyles.  They  grew  increasingly  indulgent  because 
they  learned  that  Life  was  not  so  angry  a  compUcation 
as  it  had  seemed  when  they  were  young.  So  it  has 
come  about  that  Punch  has  developed  a  tradition  of 
kindly  tolerance  towards  men  and  things,  a  tradition 
for  the  building  up  of  which  more  than  a  httle  thanks 
is  due  to  the  subject  of  this  memoir. 

One  more  letter — a  letter  eloquent  of  the  position 
which  Shirley  occupied  amongst  his  colleagues  and  of 
the  love  which  he  bore  to  his  chief — and  the  record  of 
the  year  1864  is  complete. 

S.  B.  TO  Percival  Leigh. 

"  June  1th  (1864). 

'*  My  dear  Leigh, 

*'  It  would  much  please  dear  old  Mark,  I  am  certain, 
if  we,  the  writers  and  artists,  gave  him  some  trifle,  pin, 
ring,  or  something,  on  the  Silver  Wedding.  Let  us 
subscribe  a  pound  apiece.      If  you  like,  I  will  see  to 

225 

1 6— (2297) 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

the  very  small  trouble.  Keep  it  to  us  (omitting  the 
business  element),  and  keep  it  quite  dark  till  the  day. 
May  I  put  you  down  for  £1  ? 

''  Ever, 

"  S.  Brooks. 

"  6  Kent  Terrace, 

''  Regent's  Park." 


226 


CHAPTER  XIII 

1 865  —  The  Diaries  —  The 
Christening  of  the  Two 
Boys — Death  of  Abraham 
Lincoln  —  Punch's  Great 
Recantation  and  the 
Question  of  its  Authorship. 

ENTION  has  been  made  in  an  earlier 
chapter  of  the  fate  of  Shirley's  papers  and 
diaries,  religiously  preserved  by  him  for  the  auto- 
biography which  was  never  written,  and,  after  his  death, 
recklessly  destroyed  or  cast  to  the  four  winds. 

It  is  a  fact  something  more  than  tantalising  to  his 
biographer  that  Shirley  began  keeping  a  diary  as  early 
as  the  year  1852  ;  that  this  he  continued  to  do  until 
the  day  of  his  death  ;  that  but  five  of  the  precious 
volumes  have  escaped,  or  at  least  come  to  hand  ;  and 
that  these  five  are  not  consecutive.  Indeed,  to  follow 
out  his  life  is  like  the  following  out  of  one  of  those  buried 
rivers  which  here  come  to  the  surface  for  a  while,  and 
there  bury  themselves  underground,  only  to  reappear 
laden  with  the  secrets  of  unrecoverable  experience. 

Hawked  about  London  after  his  death  by  one  of  his 
sons  and  sold  for  the  few  wretched  shillings  such  things 
fetch,  this  invaluable  series  found  itself  scattered  here 
and  there,  one  year  divorced  from  the  next,  on  the 
shelves  of  this,  that  and  the  other  old  bookshop. 

227 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

Two  of  these  flotsam  and  jetsam  of  fate  have  come 
into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Venning  by  purchase  from  a 
Brighton  bookseller,  and  have  been  generously  placed 
at  my  disposal.  Three  others  have  come  into  my  own 
hands  by  purchase  in  Oxford  Street,  cheek  by  jowl  with 
two  of  his  unfortunate  son's  own  diaries — the  son  on 
whose  future  Shirley  had  staked  his  highest  hope, 
the  son  whose  wasted  life  can  be  read  between  the  lines 
of  these  melancholy  pages. 

On  the  first  of  the  boy's  diaries,  dated  1873,  is 
written  in  Shirley's  hand  : — 

"  To  Reginald  Shirley  Brooks 

from  his  father. 

Nulla  dies  sine  lined.*' 

When  these  words  were  written  the  future  was 
bright  with  hope.  The  blank  sheets  awaited  the  record 
of  a  life.  Father  and  son  were  full  of  confidence. 
And  at  first  the  pages  give  evidence  of  good  work  and 
strenuous  endeavour.  But  all  too  soon  the  canker 
of  self-indulgence  and  irresponsibility  shows  up  as  we 
read  between  the  lines.  The  petty  triumphs  of  the 
billiard  and  card-table  take  the  place  of  high  ambitions 
and  worthy  emulations,  and  he  who  should  have  been 
master  of  his  fate  quickly  exhibits  himself  the  slave  of 
his  passions.  One  thing  only  was  fortunate  in  the 
miserable  business.  Shirley  by  his  comparatively 
early  death  was  spared  the  sorrow  of  seeing  the  wreck- 
age of  a  life  in  which  his  hopes  were  centred,  the  rapid 
ruin  of  one  on  whom  his  affection  had  been  so  freely 
lavished.     And  we  cannot  but  be  thankful  that  he  was 

228 


THE  DIARY  (1865) 

never  destined  to  peruse  those  once  white  pages,  now 
blotted  with  the  miserable  record  of  a  wasted  Hfe. 

But  this  is  anticipating.  Now,  in  1865,  all  was 
bright  with  promise.  From  Shirley's  diary  for  this 
year,  the  first  of  those  which  have  escaped  the  general 
destruction,  we  learn  that  the  tide  of  his  life  was 
running  strong  and  vigorously.  The  days  are  punc- 
tuated with  *'  work  for  Punch/'  "  work  for  Home  News ,'* 
''work  for  the  Illustrated;'  ''work  for  the  G.Mr 
(Gentleman's  Magazine)^  "  work  for  the  Era."  Every- 
thing is  subordinated  to  this.  Here  was  a  man,  if 
ever  there  was  one,  who  worked  with  no  faltering. 

That  he  enjoyed  is  equally  evident.  Just  as  he 
threw  his  whole  soul  into  his  work  when  he  was  at  it, 
so  too,  when  he  could  lay  it  aside,  he  threw  his  whole 
soul  into  his  pleasures  and  the  pleasures  of  others. 

There  was  his  dinner  table,  which,  like  Crabbe 
Robinson,  he  "  diarized,"  making  diagrams  and  placing 
the  diners'  names  in  the  order  in  which  they  sat  round 
his  hospitable  board.  And  there  were  other  people's 
dinner-tables  which  he  diarized  in  the  same  way,  with 
shrewd  and  humorous  notes  of  the  guests  added  below. 

By  the  time  this  first  of  the  diaries,  which  has  escaped, 
was  written,  it  had  pleased  him  to  discover  in  himself 
a  likeness  to  the  greatest  of  all  diarists,  and  it  amused 
him  to  play  at  being  a  modern  edition  of  his  great 
prototype.  Here  are  a  few  examples  which  will  show 
him  at  the  game  : — 

On  Jan,  27th,  1869,  "  Bessy  Dickens  came  to  ask 
us  to  sup  on  sprats  and  tripe  on  Friday.  That  reads  a 
jolly  Pepysian  entry." 

229 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

On  Jan.  30th.  '*  To-day  did  I,  Samuel  Pepys, 
drawing  mine  own  cheque  on  mine  own  banker,  pay 
my  assurance,  out  of  mine  own  savings.  But  this 
leaves  me  scant  and  I  must  get  more/' 

On  August  l&h,  1869,  during  a  hoHday  in  Wales, 
''  Began  to  smoke  Latakia,  and  much  liking  it,  stick  to 
my  pipe  all  through  the  tour,  and  shall,  I  think, 
continue  it,  for  it*s  cheap.  I  spend  much  money  on 
weeds.  This  Mr.  Pepys  notes  with  a  solemnity  worthy 
of  the  occasion.'' 

Again,  Mrs.  Shirley  Brooks  had  insisted  on  his 
investing  in  the  velvet  coat,  which  he  afterwards 
affected,  and  on  Feb.  12th,  1871,  he  wrote,  *'  Matthews, 
Torie  and  Jessy  called,  and  Mr.  Pepys  exhibited  him- 
self in  his  new  velvets  which  methought  did  much 
content  them." 

And  on  April  4th,  1871,  *' Elliott  &  Fry,  photo- 
graphers (where  C.  Keene  works  at  his  art),  having  been 
asked  by  several  for  a  better  picture  of  Mr.  Pepys, 
request  him  to  sit  again.    He  proposes  to  oblige  them." 

That  is,  of  course,  a  small  matter,  but  characteristic  of 
a  man  who  loved  conceits  and  dwelt  much  with  fancies. 

Glancing  through  this  diary  again  we  catch  vivid 
glimpses  of  celebrities  of  the  day  with  whom  he  is 
brought  in  contact.     Here  are  a  few  casual  references : 

Sir  A.  Duff-Gordon — ''  he  is  a  good  talker  and  very 
wide-awake." 

Fechter — ''  he  underplayed  Robert  Macaire,  trying 
to  be  a  gentleman,  but  there  was  some  fine  by-play." 

Marochetti — *'  whose  bust  of  W.  M.  T.  I  do  not  think 
frapp  ant  J  but  it  grows  on  you." 

Mr.  Justice  Shee — **  no  good  stories ;  working 
lawyers  are  better  than  those  who  have  reached 
Olympus  ;  nevertheless  told  me  one  about  Mr.  Justice 

230 


ALL  SORTS  AND  CONDITIONS 

Williams,  a  colleague  of  Brougham's,  '  who  blew  up 
an  attorney  who  would  make  him  call  witnesses  and 
thereby  hung  his  client.  ''  D — n  you,  go  home,  sell  your 
puny  chattels,  cut  your  throat,  and  when  you  meet 
your  client  in  hell,  apologise  to  him,  d — n  you/  '* 

Arthur  Lewis — at  whose  house  *'  good  music  .  .  . 
excellent  supper,  fine  pictures,  everybody  there  and 
do  as  you  like/' 

Frith — "  who  has  done  all  that  can  be  done  with 
his  great  picture  of  the  Prince  of  Wales's  marriage, 
when  a  painter  dares  not  do  as  Rubens  did." 

Millais — ''  whose  picture  of  a  Roman  taking  leave 
of  a  British  girl  is  one  of  the  finest  things  I  ever  saw. 
The  reality  of  love  and  grief  nearly  made  me  cry, 
and  I  am  not  hydraulic  generally." 

Lord  Egmont — ''  was  at  Trafalgar,  not  otherwise  a 
remarkable  lord." 

Sam.  Warren — '*  told  some  good  law  stories  and 
imitates  well." 

Dr.  John  Spurgin — ''  who  has  had  20  children  and 
wonE.'sheart  by  his  kindly  discourse  on  such  creatures." 

Mrs.  Lynn  Linton — "  read  and  liked  her  novel, 
"  Grasp  your  Nettle." 

Jeffreson — ''  the  best  American  actor  I  have  seen. 
.  .  .     Repose,  ease  and  absence  of  all  trick." 

Landseer — ''  talked  much,  but  wants  his  innings  to 
himself." 

Sterndale  Bennett — ''  always  glad  to  see  him.'' 

Sutherland  Edwards — ''  like  him  much." 

From  which  we  gather  that  he  rubbed  shoulders  with 
men  and  women  of  all  sorts  and  conditions,  keeping 
eyes  and  ears  open  for  anything  worthy  of  record. 
But  this  is  the  mere  froth  of  the  diaries.  They  will 
yield  much  of  more  soHd  interest  as  we  proceed  with 
the  consecutive  narrative. 

231 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

Amongst  Shirley's  intimates  at  this  time  was  the  late 
Dean  Hole,  who  speaks  in  his  '*  Memories "  of 
*'  Brooks's  quick,  brilliant  humour."  For  some  reason 
or  another,  Reginald  and  Cecil,  Shirley's  two  sons, 
had  not  yet  been  christened,  although  the  one  was  just 
over,  the  other  just  under,  ten  years  of  age.  At  the 
beginning  of  this  year  a  decision  was  come  to  to 
remedy  the  omission.  Dean  Hole  was  present  and 
wrote  as  follows  : — 

''  I  went,  on  Shirley's  invitation,  to  the  christening 
of  his  children,  and  Mark  Lemon  was  there  as  one  of 
the  sponsors.  Some  of  our  friends  professed  to  regard 
this  arrangement  with  horror  and  indignation.  They 
solemnly  assured  the  father  of  the  babe  that  they  saw 
through  his  diabolical  intentions ;  that  all  London, 
including  the  suburbs,  was  crying  shame  upon  him  ; 
and  that,  after  anxious  deliberation,  they  thought  it 
their  duty  to  lay  an  information  before  the  magistrates, 
and  to  demand  the  interference  of  the  police.  It  was 
evident,  they  said,  that  in  engaging  Mr.  Punch  as  a 
godfather — Punch,  who  habitually  and  daily  assaulted 
babies,  beat  them  about  the  head  with  a  stick,  and 
dashed  them  down  upon  the  stones  of  the  street — he, 
Shirley  Brooks,  was  bent  upon  infanticide,  and  that 
they  were  unable  in  consequence  to  sleep  in  their  beds, 
terrified  as  they  were  by  previsions  of  one,  whom  they 
had  so  dearly  loved,  appearing  as  Brooks,  murderer,  in 
Madame  Tussaud's  Chamber  of  Horrors  ! 

"  All  things,  nevertheless,  were  done  with  due 
reverence,  ..." 

One  is  glad  if  this  were  so,  for  from  Shirley's  diary 
I  am  bound  to  confess  a  very  different  impression  is 
left  on  the  mind,  and  I  cannot  but  think  that  in  later 

232 


A  CURIOUS  CHRISTENING 

years  he  would  have  hesitated  at  rounding  off  so 
serious  an  occasion  with  such  callous  indifference 
to  its  real  significance  as  is  shown  in  his  own 
account.  If  the  thing  were  to  be  done  at  all, 
and  meant  anything  other  than  the  perfunctory 
performance  of  a  meaningless  rite,  surely  something 
better  than  plenty  of  champagne,  a  pantomime  to 
follow,  supper  at  the  "Bedford"  and  home  at  half-past 
twelve,  could  have  been  devised  to  impress  the 
solemnity  of  the  occasion  on  the  "  young  Christians  !  ** 

Charles  Knight  and  Fred  Evans  stood  as  sponsors 
for  Reginald.  Mr.  Matthews  (of  Messrs.  Grindlay's), 
Robert  Cooke  and  Mrs.  Lemon  (not  Mark  Lemon,  as 
the  Dean  had  it)  for  Cecil. 

Here  is  Shirley's  account  : — 

*'  Hole  came  late,  but  was  present  during  most  of  the 
ceremony.  R.  was  nervous  and  bit  his  lip.  Cecil 
grave,  but  inclined  to  be  comic.  .  .  .  Afterwards  to 
the  'Bedford.'  There  we  lunched  in  the  *Dryden.'  .  .  . 
The  feast  went  merrily.  I  turned  on  plenty  of  cham- 
pagne. Charles  Knight  made  a  very  nice  speech  to 
the  health  of  the  children,  whom  *  he  would  not  call  the 
Christians  of  the  hour.'  Afterwards  E.  and  I  and  the 
young  Christians  went  to  see  ...  *  Hop  o'  my  Thumb  ' 
atDrury  Lane.  .  .  .  Back  to  'Bedford' to  supper.  .  .  . 
Home  about  J  past  12.  So  all  went  well.  .  .  .  And 
there  was  the  end  of  the  christening.     D.G." 

Certainly  the  levity  of  the  thing  makes  one  shudder. 
At  the  same  time  we  should  not  perhaps  judge  Shirley 
too  harshly.  The  atmosphere  in  which  he  lived  was 
not  a  religious  one.  More,  the  Church  of  England 
herself  was,  fifty  years  ago,  lax  and  undisciplined  in  her 

233 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

ceremonial  observances.  The  Oxford  movement  had  not 
yet  resulted  in  the  seemliness  of  ceremonial  which  is  now 
happily  so  marked  a  feature,  not  only  of  High  Anglican 
but  also  of  Evangelical  churches.  Indeed,  I  am  re- 
minded that  in  those  days  it  was  quite  the  fashion 
after  the  even  more  solemn  ceremony  of  Confirmation 
to  hold  what  were  called  "  Confirmation  Balls,"  at 
which  the  girls  would  appear  in  their  white  dresses 
and  dance  until  the  day  was  young  again  !  That  is 
happily  repugnant  to  present-day  feelings,  and  Shirley 
should  perhaps  hardly  be  blamed  for  a  laxness,  the 
responsibility  for  which  rested  on  other  shoulders. 

Again  we  turn  over  the  pages  of  the  neatly-written 
diary  and  catch  vivid  glimpses  of  the  man  and  his 
surroundings. 

On  the  first  day  of  January  he  reviews  the  pecuniary 
results  of  the  past  year. 

*'  Looking  at  my  book,  I  find  that  I  took  earnings 
in  hard  cash  in  1864  .  .  .  £Qni  from  Punch  and  other 
things.  In  all,  with  Punchy  £821.  Other  earnings, 
which  do  not  come  to  me,  and  £50  unpaid,  make  my 
work  amount  to  £1,034  16s. 

''  Now  this  is  not  a  sufficient  advance  on  what  I  have 
done  in  previous  years.  The  novel  ought  to  have  been 
completed,  and  I  have  had  advances  on  that,  all  of 
which,  assurance  business  included,  must,  D.V.,  be 
settled  in  1865.  May  I  have  health,  brains,  and 
perseverance  therefor . * ' 

•'  Jan.  4fh. 

*'  E.  [Mrs.  Brooks]  and  the  children  to  party  at 
Ansdell's* — juvenile — everything    capital.      Our    kids 

♦  Richard  Ansdell,  the  well-known  animal  painter. 

234 


"PALL  MALL  GAZETTE" 

much  admired — specially  Pig  [Cecil],  who  was  dancing 
with  little  Miss  Millais.  *  There  go  art  and  literature/ 
said  somebody/' 

On  Jan.  5th  he  puts  it  on  record  that  he  has  written 
his  first  '*  London  Letter ''  for  the  Bristol  Mirror, 
signing  himself  ''  A  Templar/'*  This  he  continued  to 
contribute  weekly  until  October,  no  slight  addition  to 
his  already  voluminous  output. 

*'  Jan.  nth. 

'*  E.  said  to-night  that  she  '  had  been  happier  for  the 
last  year  than  ever  in  her  life,  and  could  not  desire  to 
be  more  happy/  "  ^ 

"Jan.  14th. 

''  Telegram  from  M(ark)  L(emon),  who  is  ill,  and 
I  had  to  edit  P{unch)  P(ocket-Book),  so  at  and  about 
that  all  day." 
"  Feh.  1th. 

**  The  first  number  of  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette  appeared  ; 
walked  about  in  the  wet  mud  till  I  got  it. 

''  Read  Gazette  aforesaid,  which  is  said  to  be  Smith's 
of  the  Cornhillj  TroUope,   Higgins  (J.   O.),   Hannay, 
Helps,  in  it.     Fearfully  dull." 
"  Feb.  Sth. 

*'  Shall  I  write  down  that,  being  in  admirable  health, 
and  perfectly  sober,  mens  sana  in,  etc.,  it  came,  like 
a  flash  across  me  that  I  am  but  50 — that  I  ought  to 
have  more  years  of  work  before  than  behind  me  (for 
what  was  I  really  doing  20  years  ago,  1845  ?),  and  that 
I  ought  to  feel  that  I  am  beginning  a  new  era  ?  I  write 
it — and  it  will  bear  rough  handling  better  than  most 
impressions.  Yet,  the  less  we  think  subjectively,  the 
better — I  believe.     Look  at  work  and  do  it." 

*  A  nom  de  plume  suggested  by  his  working  chambers,  which  were 
now  at  5  Paper  Buildings,  Temple. 

235 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

"  Feh.  mh. 

"  Wrote  the  prologue  for  the  Guards,  and  sent  it  to 
De  Bathe/' 

"  Feb.  25th. 

''  We  went  to  the  Bijou  Theatre,  where  my  prologue 
opened  the  evening.  The  Prince  and  Princess  there, 
and  all  the  cream  of  the  cream.  Mrs.  Stirhng  would 
have  spoken  it  much  better  than  Mrs.  Wigan  did. 
Spoke  to  several  swells,  and  to  Chas.  Mathews.  How 
I  should  have  liked  this  bit  of  social  glory  ten  years 
ago.  Now,  except  that  it  pleases  my  wife,  it  is 
nothing.*' 

^  On  Feb.  22nd  he  writes  a  long  letter  on  *'  Crossing- 
bweepers,''  to  the  Star,  signing  himself  "  Epicurus 
Rotundus,"  from  which  I  quote  a  passage  : — 

"  I  beg  leave  to  protest  against  your  championship 
of  those  abominable  nuisances,  the  crossing-sweepers. 
Probably  the  writer  of  the  article  in  your  paper  to-day 
rides  to  his  work  in  an  elegant  brougham.  His  talents, 
misdirected  in  this  instance,  deserve  that  he  should 
be  able  to  do  so.  I,  living  in  a  suburb,  walk  to  my 
work  on  double-soled  shoes.  There  are  29  crossings 
between  my  door  and  the  door  of  my  chambers  in  the 
Temple.  At  every  one  of  these  is  posted  a  dirty 
sentinel,  who  either  smirks  at  me,  grunts  at  me,  holds 
a  hat  at  me,  whines  to  me  from  afar  off,  runs  after  me 
imploring  me,  scowls  at  me,  or  takes  some  other 
unpleasant  means  of  begging.  If  I  comply  with  his 
or  her  request,  the  smallest  coin  I  can  bestow  is  one 
halfpenny,  and  29  halfpence  (I  go  to  work  every  day) 
multiplied  by  6  make  7s.  3d.  a  week.  Multiphed  again 
by  50  (I  get  a  fortnight  at  Gravesend)  the  sum 
approaches  sublimity  when  compared  to  my  income- 
tax.     Moreover,  Sir,  I  have  charged  nothing  for  back 

236 


LECTURING  AT  HULL 

fare,  because  when  my  work  is  done  and  I  am  not  think- 
ing I  am  not  so  sensible  of  the  persecution,  and  can 
answer  with  a  cheerful  commination.'* 

On  March  13th  he  is  at  Hull  lecturing  on  ''An 
Evening  with  the  Speaker/*  at  the  Royal  Institute, 
drawing  on  the  memories  of  his  days  passed  in  the 
Gallery  of  the  House  of  Commons,  and  amusing  his 
hearers  by  graphic  and  lively  descriptions  of  the  more 
prominent  members,  and  their  pecuHarities. 

Here  is  his  memorandum  : — 

*'  Dine  plainly  at  3.  Walk  over  town.  Hull  cer- 
tainly rhymes  to  dull.  Noble  church,  gift  statue  of 
K.  Wm.  Ill,  one  of  Wilberforce,  small  on  a  big  column. 
Street  called  Land  of  Green  Ginger.  S.  Warren*  com- 
mitted a  witness  for  naming  it,  thinking  he  was  chaffing 
the  Court.  I  rather  liked  the  harbour  ;  it  looked  old 
and  snug,  and  a  place  to  sit  in  on  an  afternoon.  New 
Holland,  the  name  of  the  pier  opposite,  if  you  go  up 
Grimsby  way.  Tea  at  6.  Dress,  and  to  the  Institute. 
Such  a  crowd  at  the  door — had  to  get  in  as  I  could. 
The  attendance  larger  than  they  had  ever  had — a 
laboratory  had  to  be  opened  at  my  back,  and  all  the 
standing  room  packed  close.  Great  many  women, 
some  very  pretty.  An  excellent  audience — took  all 
the  points,  and  nobody  stirred,  though  I  gave  them 
full  measure.'' 

On  April  13th,  Hezekiah  Linthicum  Bateman,  the 
actor,  calls  and  asks  him  to  dramatize  '*  East  Lynne  '* 
for  "  Katy  "  (Miss  Bateman)  to  act  in,  but  after  much 
parleying  nothing  comes  of  it. 

*  Author  of  "  Ten  Thousand  a  Year,"  and  at  this  time  Recorder 
of  HuU. 

237 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

"  I  did  not  Wish,  after  abandoning  stage  writing  so 
long,  and  making  another  kind  of  reputation,  to  return 
with  an  adaptation  of  a  sensation  novel,  so  I  asked 
high  terms,  and  the  thing  rode  off,  B.  Webster  saying 
that  his  son  was  doing  or  would  do  the  thing/' 

On  May  24th  he  takes  one  of  his  rare  ''  whole 
holidays/' 

''  At  i  p.  10  with  the  Friths  to  Windsor.  White 
Hart.  To  the  Castle,  where  Frith  got  at  Mr.  Seabrook, 
the  Inspector,  who  very  kindly  took  us  over  every 
interesting  part.  I  nor  E.  had  been  there  before, 
and  I  was  hugely  delighted.  I  had  no  idea  of  the 
splendour  and  art-wealth  of  the  place — it  was  worth 
going  to  see  the  Vandykes.  We  saw  places  into  which 
the  world  is  not  allowed  to  go — Prince  Consort's 
armoury  (bullet  that  killed  Nelson,  and  no  end  of 
relics),  and  the  Gainsborough  room  with  its  gems, 
into  which  the  Q.  does  not  care  that  anybody  shall  be 
taken.  Also  nuptial  and  Lucina  bowers  of  the 
Princesses — rooms  rich  but  small.  The  corridor  is 
glorious.  I  should  like  a  week  of  free  range  in  the 
place.  Then  we  had  5  basins  of  mock  turtle  at  a 
confectioner's,  and  smoked  till  the  Yateses,  Austin,* 
and  Parkinson  came.  Then  two  carriages — one  with 
two  horses  and  postillion  held,  on  box,  the  Lords 
Brooks  and  Yates,  the  Hon.  Mesdames  Brooks  and 
Yates,  Sir  W.  P.  Frith  and  Cavalier  Austin.  To 
Burnham  Beeches,  where  I  have  been  once  before. 
Wandered,  and  then  to  Stoke,  to  see  the  Elegy  Church, 
and  Gray's  tomb.     Home  by  6  and  dined  at  the  hotel." 

So  much,  for  the  moment,  of  transient  matters  dealt 
with  in  the  diary.     We  must  now  turn  to  a  matter  of 

♦  The  present  poet-laureate. 

23$ 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

history,  upon  which  this  Httle  volume  throws  a  hght 
that  has  hitherto  been  lacking. 

On  April  14th  of  this  year  (1865),  Abraham  Lincoln 
was  foully  assassinated.  During  the  four  preceding 
years  Punch  had  assumed  what  one  cannot  but  describe 
as  an  exceedingly  offensive  attitude  towards  America, 
North  and  South  ahke.  No  opportunity  had  been 
missed  of  vaunting  the  superiority  of  England  and 
things  English  over  America  and  things  American. 
Both  parties  in  the  Civil  War  had  provoked  his  bitterest 
satire,  his  uncompromising  hostihty.  And  Shirley 
had  been  one  of  the  worst  offenders.  In  1861  he  had 
written  ''  The  National  Hymn  of  the  Confederate 
States,"  with  the  insulting  refrain — 

"  Rule  Slaveownia,  Slaveownia  rules,  and  raves 
Christians  ever,  ever,  ever  shall  be  slaves." 

This  he  had  followed  in  1862  with  *'  An  American 
Lyric  to  Abraham  Lincoln,  on  his  demand  for  300,000 
men,"  which  ran  as  follows  : — 

"  We're  coming,  Father  Abraam,  we're  coming  all  along. 
But  don't  you  think  you're  coming  it  yourself  a  httle  strong  ? 
Three  hundred  thousand  might  be  called  a  pretty  tidy  figure. 
We've  nearly  sent  you  white  enough,  why  don't  you  take  the 
nigger  ? 

"  Consider,  Father  Abraam,  and  give  the  thing  a  thought. 
This  war  has  just  attained  four  times  the  longitude  it  ought ; 
And  all  the  biUs  at  Ninety  Days  as  you  have  drawed  so  free 
Have  been  dishonoured,  Abraam,  as  punctual  as  could  be. 

'*  We've  fought,  old  Father  Abraam,  and  fought  uncommon  bold. 
And  gained  amazing  victories,  or  so  at  least  we're  told  ; 
And  having  whipped  the  rebels  for  a  twelvemonth  and  a  day. 
We  nearly  found  'em  liquoring  in  Washington  in  May. 

239 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

"  Now  really.  Father  Abraam,  this  here's  the  extra  ounce. 
And  we  are  almost  sick,  you  see,  of  such  almighty  bounce  ; 
We  ain't  afraid  of  being  killed  at  proper  times  and  seasons, 
But  it's  aggravating  to  be  killed  for  Mac's*  strategic  reasons. 

"  If  you'd  be  so  obliging.  Father  Abraam,  as  to  write 
To  any  foreign  potentate,  and  put  the  thing  poHte, 
And  make  him  loan  a  general  as  knows  the  way  to  lead. 
We'd  come  and  hst,  Jerusalem  and  snakes  !   we  would  indeed. 

"  But  as  the  matter  stands,  old  Abe,  we've  this  opinion,  some. 
If  you  say  Come,  as  citizens  of  course  we're  bound  to  come. 
But  then  we  want  to  win,  you  see ;   if  Strategy  prevents. 
We  wish  you'd  use  the  nigger  for  these  here  experiments. 

*'  Hereditary  bondsman,  he  should  just  be  made  to  know 
He'd  convenience  us  uncommon  if  he'd  take  and  strike  a  blow. 
The  man  as  will  not  fight  for  freedom  isn't  worth  a  cuss. 
And  it's  better  using  niggers  up  than  citizens  hke  us. 

"  So,  Father  Abraam,  if  you  please,  in  this  here  game  of  chess, 
You'd  better  take  the  black  men  against  the  white,  I  guess. 
And  if  you  work  the  niggers  off  before  RebeUion's  slain. 
Which  surely  ain't  respectable, — apply  to  us  again." 

Later,  when  General  Beauregard  declared,  in  his 
proclamation  to  the  South,  that  ''  unborn  generations 
would  rise  up  and  call  them  blessed,"  Punch  had 
caustically  observed  that,  with  proverbial  inaccuracy, 
the  reporters  had  omitted  the  general's  concluding 
word,  *'  rascals  !  " 

These  are  but  samples  of  what  had  been  the  practice 
of  Punch  during  those  terrible  years  during  which  a 
great  nation,  bound  to  England  by  the  closest  ties, 
had  been  in  the  awful  throes  of  a  mortal  tragedy. 

♦  McCleUan 

240 


"PUNCH'S"   GREAT   RECANTATION 

It  was  the  time  for  sympathy,  not  for  satire.  But 
Punch  had  made  it  the  time  for  one  of  his  great 
mistakes. 

And  now  came  the  appalling  news  that  the  great 
President,  just  when  the  hour  of  his  triumph  had 
struck,  was  untimely  dead  at  the  hands  of  an  assassin. 
Then  were  men's  eyes  opened  to  the  real  splendour  of 
the  man's  character,  the  difficulty  and  glory  of  his 
achievement.  It  was  a  great  opportunity  for  Punch 
to  show  of  what  mettle  he  was  made,  and  he  seized  it. 
After  all  he  was  an  honourable  hunchback,  and  did  not 
subscribe  to  that  astounding  dictum  of  Emerson's  that 
*'  no  sensible  person  ever  made  an  apology."  The 
thing  must  be  done  handsomely  or  not  at  all,  and 
certainly  his  recantation  was  the  amplest  imaginable. 
**  It  was,"  says  Oilier  in  his  **  History  of  the  United 
States,"  **  a  recantation  perhaps  the  most  extraordinary 
that  has  ever  appeared  in  print."  And  certainly  Punch 
did  not  spare  himself.  Retractation  and  self-abase- 
ment  could  surely  not  have  been  more  complete. 
The  words  in  which  the  recantation  was  made  no  doubt 
were  rough  and  rugged,  but  they  were  instinct  with 
generous  shame  and  honest  repentance.  A  great 
wrong  had  been  done.  A  complete  recantation  must 
be  made,  and  Mark  Lemon  evinced  high  moral  courage 
in  not  shrinking  from  the  responsibility.  It  was  almost 
worth  while  to  have  been  wrong  to  have  the  opportunity 
of  making  so  honourable  an  amende. 

I  have  not  space  for  more  than  the  first  six  stanzas 
of  a  set  of  verses  which  should  be  turned  up  in  the  pages 
of  Punch  and  read  in  their  entirety. 

241 

IT— <Ja97) 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

"  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

"  Foully  Assassinated  April  14th,  1865. 

"  You  lay  a  wreath  on  murdered  Lincoln's  bier, 
You,  who  with  mocking  pencil  wont  to  trace. 
Broad  for  the  self-complacent  British  sneer, 
His  length  of  shambhng  limb,  his  furrowed  face. 

"  His  gaunt,  gnarled  hands,  his  unkempt,  bristHng  hair. 
His  garb  uncouth,  his  bearing  ill  at  ease. 
His  lack  of  all  we  prize  as  debonair, 
Of  power  or  will  to  shine,  of  art  to  please. 

"  You,  whose  smart  pen  backed  up  the  pencil's  laugh. 
Judging  each  step  as  though  the  way  were  plain  : 
Reckless,  so  it  could  point  its  paragraph. 
Of  chief's  perplexity,  or  people's  pain. 

"  Beside  this  corpse,  that  bears  for  winding-sheet 
The  Stars  and  Stripes  he  lived  to  rear  anew. 
Between  the  mourners  at  his  head  and  feet. 
Say,  scurril-j ester,  is  there  room  for  you? 

4:  «  9K 

'*  Yes,  he  had  lived  to  shame  me  from  my  sneer, 
To  lame  my  pencil,  and  confute  my  pen — 
To  make  me  own  this  hind  of  princes  peer. 
This  rail-spHtter  a  true-born  king  of  men. 

"  My  shallow  judgment  I  had  learnt  to  rue. 
Noting  how  to  occasion's  height  he  rose. 
How  his  quaint  wit,  made  home-truth  seem  more  true, 
How,  iron-hke,  his  temper  grew  by  blows." 

In  America  the  verses,  accompanying  as  they  did 
TennieFs  noble  cartoon  of  ''  Britannia  Sympathising 
with  Columbia/'  created  a  profound  impression.  One 
writer  even  went  so  far  as  to  declare  that  they  were 
largely  instrumental  in  preventing  the  war  between 
America  and  England  which  seemed  imminent.  Over- 
wrought nerves  had  been  strained  almost  to  snapping 

242 


"PUNCHES"   GREAT  RECANTATION 

point  by  the  hostile  criticism  of  the  sad-faced,  loose- 
limbed  Yankee,  whom  America  had  learned  to  look 
on  as  her  saviour.  And  it  wanted  but  a  little  more  to 
precipitate  a  catastrophe  at  which  the  world  would 
have  stood  aghast — a  sorry  commentary  on  the  boasted 
civilization  and  humanity  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
Happily  it  was  averted,  and  who  shall  say  what  part 
was  played  by  Punch's  prompt  and  courageous  atone- 
ment ?  The  sincerity,  manhness,  sympathy,  and,  above 
all,  the  humility  of  the  verses  spoke  straight  to  the 
heart  of  a  great  nation,  and  soothed  a  wound  which 
should  never  have  been  opened  and  which  constant 
teasing  had  kept  cruelly  at  the  raw.  Since  that  time 
Punch  has,  whilst  reserving  to  himself  the  right  of 
laughing  at  our  cousins*  foibles  as  at  our  own,  steadily 
used  his  great  influence  for  conciliation  and  kindly 
feeling,  and  has  been  instant  in  removing  those  mis- 
understandings which  never  should  be  allowed  to  exist 
between  nations  so  nearly  related  by  blood,  and  united 
at  their  best  by  a  common  noble  ideal. 

The  verses  appeared  on  May  6th,  and  were  as  much 
discussed  in  England  as  in  America.  Here,  I  regret 
to  say,  they  by  no  means  met  with  universal  approval. 
Indeed,  as  we  shall  see,  the  Punch  staff  was  itself 
divided  on  the  matter.  Soon  the  quidnuncs  were  hard 
at  work  to  discover  their  authorship.  Some  said  they 
were  Shirley's  ;  others  that  they  were  Tom  Taylor's  ; 
others  that  they  were  Alfred  Tennyson's  !  But  Mr. 
Punch's  Cabinet  kept  its  own  counsel,  and,  so  far  as 
the  public  was  concerned,  the  question  remained 
unanswered. 

243 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

Thirty  years  later  came  Mr.  Spielmann's  ''  History 
of  Punchy''  in  which  the  matter  was  of  necessity 
dealt  with,  and  there  the  verses  were  attributed 
to  Shirley  Brooks.  Later  the  question  was  raised 
in  the  pages  of  Notes  and  Queries  by  Mr.  A.  J. 
Edmunds,  of  *'  The  Historical  Society  of  Pennsyl- 
vania/* and  their  attribution  to  Tennyson  again 
mentioned  !  This  was,  of  course,  ridiculous,  and  in 
reply  they  were  once  more  nailed  to  the  mast  as  the 
work  of  Shirley  Brooks.  So  the  matter  rested,  until 
the  writing  of  this  biography  became  my  business. 
Then  a  doubt  arose  in  my  mind,  for  I  found  that  they 
had  not  been  included  in  the  selection  from  Shirley's 
Punch  verse,  published  after  his  death  under  the  title 
of  **  Wit  and  Humour.' '  This  was  the  more  surprising 
since  much  of  a  very  inferior  nature  was  there  to 
be  found.  In  a  fortunate  moment  I  received  a 
letter  from  Mr.  George  Dunlop,  of  the  Kilmarnock 
Standard,  an  Abraham  Lincoln  enthusiast  of  many 
years'  standing,  in  which  he  informed  me  that  an 
edition  of  the  letters  and  speeches  of  the  great  President 
was  now  being  prepared  in  America,  in  which  allusion 
would  be  made  to  the  episode  and  the  verses  attributed 
to  Tom  Taylor,  and  would  I,  as  Shirley's  biographer, 
clear  the  matter  up  ? 

Thereupon  the  thing  assumed  a  new  importance. 
Mere  assertion  was  not  enough.  Direct  evidence  was 
essential.     But  where  to  get  it  ? 

Then  a  curious  thing  happened.  Immediately 
after  receiving  Mr.  Dunlop's  communication,  there 
came   into   my   hands   quite   unexpectedly   Shirley's 

244 


"PUNCH"   EATS   HUMBLE   PIE 

diary  for  1865,  the  very  year  that  was  wanted,  picked 
up  by  the  veriest  chance  in  the  shop  of  a  Brighton 
bookseller  !  Of  course  there  was  no  certainty  even 
then  that  there  would  be  any  reference  to  the  matter 
in  its  pages.  Indeed,  if  the  verses  were  his,  they 
would  after  all  be  only  in  the  ordinary  course  of  his 
work,  and,  if  they  were  not,  well !  they  were  only  in 
the  course  of  somebody  else's,  and  as  likely  as  not 
would  call  for  no  special  mention.  But,  as  I  turned 
the  pages,  hope  ran  high.  On  Feb.  15th  he  recorded 
"  D.P.Pr  (Dined  With  the  Punch  People),  "  Stood  up 
for  the  Federals  and  their  abolition  of  slavery,  but  the 
current  of  feeling  in  society,  just  now,  is  all  against 
them,  even  to  unfairness.*' 

That  was  so  far  satisfactory  as  showing  that 
Shirley  was  in  sympathy  with  the  North,  but  it  was 
not  enough. 

What  would  the  record  for  May  have  to  say  ?  I 
confess  to  some  considerable  excitement  as  I  turned  the 
pages.  There  w^as  nothing  on  May  6th,  the  date  of 
the  appearance  of  the  verses,  nor  on  the  7th,  8th,  or 
9th.  My  last  hope  was  the  date  of  the  next  Punch 
dinner.  May  10th.  Imagine  my  feelings  when  I  turned 
to  that  date  and  read  : — 

*'  D(ined)  Punchy  all  there.  Let  out  my  views 
against  some  verses  on  Lincoln  in  which  T.  T.*  had 
not  only  made  P.  eat  umbles  pie  but  swallow  dish  and 
all.     P.  L.f  and  J.  T.J  with  me." 

So  there  was  the  answer  to  the  burning  question  in 
Shirley's  own  handwriting.     So  far  indeed  from  being 

*  Tom  Taylor.  f  Percival  Leigh.  t  John  Tenniel. 

245 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

the  writer  of  the  verses,  he  most  heartily  condemned 
their  pubhcation.  In  that  case  I  find  my  man  not  on 
the  side  of  the  angels.  He  was,  however,  sound  in  his 
allegiance  to  the  North  and  anti-slavery,  for  he  recorded 
on  the  same  day  : — 

*'  Johnston  has  surrendered,  and,  thank  God,  the 
American  war  is  over,  and  Slavery  is  abolished. 
I  rejoice  that  no  bravery  of  the  South  ever  led  me  to 
waver  in  my  hope  and  belief  that  the  North  would  win.*' 

And  the  next  day  in  his  Bristol  Times  letter  : — 

*'  Everybody  must  rejoice  that  the  American  war 
is  virtually  at  an  end.  Johnston  has  now  surrendered, 
and  what  remnants  of  Confederate  armies  may  be  left 
will  scarcely  be  insane  enough  to  incur  the  perils  of 
a  hopeless  resistance.  We  cannot  say  that  there  is 
peace,  but  there  is  an  end  of  war.  And  slavery  is 
abohshed.  We  had  all  hoped  to  see  this  abolition 
worked  out  peaceably,  and  by  the  shedding  of  treasure 
instead  of  blood,  but  Mars,  not  Mammon,  was  to  be 
the  presiding  deity,  and  frightful  the  price  has  been. 
It  is  paid,  however,  and  we  can  no  longer  play  the 
Pharisee,  and  taunt  our  American  brother  with  our 
superior  virtue.  The  subject  does  not  belong  to  my 
letter,  but  .it  is  one  which  no  man  can  help  speaking  of. 
I  will  simply  add  that  I  hear  a  general  expression  of 
satisfaction  that  the  assassin  of  President  Lincoln  has 
been  shot  and  thrown  away,  instead  of  being  made  the 
centre  of  a  scene.  Virginia  will  probably  change  the 
motto  he  polluted.'' 

That  is  all  very  well,  but  I  confess  I  should  have 
been  better  pleased  to  find  him  crying  **  Peccavi  " 
with  Mark  Lemon  and  Tom  Taylor,  and  more  generous 
in  his  recognition  of  him  of  whom  Whittier  wrote  : — 

246 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN 

'*  A  Great  and  Providential  Man.  The  world  has 
seen  few  like  him  !  '* 

A  month  later  t^ere  is  another  entry  which  shows 
that  the  verses  weve^  still  being  discussed,  and  that  the 
mis-statement  was  already  on  its  way,  which  has  now, 
after  forty  years,  been  run  to  earth,  and  we  may  hope 
finally  disposed  of. 

^' June  10th. 

"  Letter  from  Fred  Sabine.  .  .  .  They  attribute  the 
Punch  verses  on  Lincoln  to  me,  a  mistake  whereof, 
as  I  would  be  stealing  Kudos  else,  I  must  disabuse 
them." 

So  much  for  Shirley*  s  own  written  evidence  which 
fell  so  opportunely  into  my  hands. 

Later  Mr.  Silver  at  my  request  looked  up  his  record 
of  the  aforesaid  Punch  dinner,  and  found  the 
following  : — 

"  Shirley  protests  against  Tom  Taylor's  lines  on 
Lincoln.  '  Punch  has  not  been  blind  and  shallow,'  he 
declared  indignantly,  '  and  even  if  it  had,  we  ought 
not  to  own  it.  Would  you  have  written  the  lines, 
Leigh  ?  ' 

"  '  I  !     No,  I  should  think  not  indeed,'  says  Leigh. 

**  Thereupon  Mark  Lemon  totally  disagrees  with 
them  both. 

*'  *  The  avowal,'  he  says,  *  that  we  have  been  a  bit 
mistaken  is  manly  and  just.'  " 

No  doubt,  the  Punch  people,  in  common  with  many 
others,  had  mistrusted  Lincoln  because  of  his  first 
declaring  that  he  would  throw  over  the  Slave  question 
if  thereby  he  could  maintain  the  Union,  and  afterwards 
asserting  that  it  was  Slavery  alone  which  had  caused 

247 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

the  war  and  its  abolition  that  alone  could  finish  it. 
But  they  had  not  gauged  the  appaUing  difficulty  of  the 
situation,  which  could  only  be  judged  as  a  whole, 
and  not  by  what  this  or  that  man  may  have  said  at  one 
time  or  another  during  the  long-drawn-out  and  bitter 
controversy. 


248 


CHAPTER  XIV 


1865  (continued)  and  1866 — Health — Earnings — Work — The  Leigh 
Murray  Benefit — At  Scarborough  with  the  Friths — Punch's 
"  Table  Talk  " — Death  of  Lord  Palmerston — ^The  Agnews — 
Lectures  at  Oswestry — The  Year's  Earnings — Letters  to  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Frith — The  Censorship  of  Plays — Artemus  Ward — 
Letters  to  Percival  Leigh — Punch's  Golden  Wedding — Governor 
Eyre — Boulogne — Dieppe — C.  H.  Bennett — Parting  Kick  to 
1866. 

AY,  with  its  treacherous  winds 

and  hot  sun,  was  barely  over 

when  Shirley  was  again  laid 

up   with  a  severe  attack  of 

gout,    and    wrote   in    his 

diary  : — 

''  Have  had  solemn 
palaver  with  Duplex* 
on  matters  which  affect 
the  nearest,  and  he  says 
that  on  three  conditions 
he  will  assure  me  15 
years  of  nerves  as  they 
ought  to  be  —  which 
means  a  deal.  The 
terms  are  : — 

1.  Exercise,  at  least 
6  miles  a  day. 

2.  Only  one  wine  at 
a  time. 

3.  No  tobacco. 


♦  His  doctor. 


249 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

The  last  item  is  a  severe  one,  as  I  have  got  into  the 
habit  so  much.  But  I  am  sure  that  he  is  right,  and 
I  have  been  so  miserable  that  it  would  be  absurd  not 
to  enter  on  the  new  course.  I  make  no  pledge,  on 
principle,  but  I  will  try.'' 

He  was  burning  the  candle  at  both  ends,  and  taking 
but  little  healthy  recreation.  As  literary  work  in- 
creased, so  did  the  social  exigencies  of  Hfe.  Dinner 
parties,  first  nights  at  the  theatre,  late  hours,  put  the 
finishing  touch  to  long  spells  of  arduous  work,  and 
exhausted  nerves  cried  out,  now  for  stimulants,  now 
for  narcotics. 

Bohemia  was  inhabited  by  Bohemians  in  those 
days,  and  Shirley  was  a  true  native.  Now  it  has  been 
captured  by  men  whose  tastes  and  habits  have  been 
formed  at  the  public  schools,  or  who  at  least  have 
had  their  three  years  at  Oxford  or  Cambridge.  The 
difference  is  clearly  put  in  a  note  which  Sir  Francis 
Burnand  has  kindly  sent  to  me  : — 

"  I  find  it  difficult,"  he  writes,  *'  to  remember 
anything  concerning  Shirley  Brooks  that  would  be  of 
general  interest.  As  Eton  boys  say,  '  I  knew  him  at 
home,'  but,  even  socially,  he  belonged  to  a  previous 
generation  of  literary  men,  journalists  and  theatrical 
professionals  which  has  very  little  in  common  with 
those  of  my  own  time  and  standing.  Or  it  may  have 
been  that  socially  I  myself  had  very  little  in  common 
with  them.  Put  it  which  way  you  will,  certainly  the 
habits  and  manners  of  Shirley  and  his  contemporaries 
were  not  congenial  to  me.  Shirley  belonged  to  that 
period  when  journalism  generally  and  the  profession  of 
lighter  literature  meant  that  no  matter  of  business  or 
pleasure  could  be  discussed  without  it  being  made, 

250 


BOHEMIA 

at  any  time  of  the  day  or  night,  *  an  excuse  for  a  glass/ 
It  was  the  same  with  most  of  Shirley's  confreres  at 
that  time,  the  notable  exception  being  Tom  Taylor, 
who,  as  a  Fellow  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  had 
been  associated  with  other  men  and  other  manners. 
Thackeray  also  was  an  exception  in  spite  of  his  appre- 
ciation of  Bohemia.  But  it  was  to  the  First  Form 
Upper  Remove  in  the  Bohemian  Public  Schools  that 
he  belonged.  Certainly  within  my  recollection  a 
considerable  majority  of  the  journalists  and  '  literary 
men '  of  my  earlier  times  were  decidedly  convivial, 
and  conviviahty  entered  largely  into  their  method  of 
working.  Like  George  Augustus  Sala,  sometimes  his 
friend  and  sometimes  his  enemy,  Shirley  Brooks  had 
'  been  through  the  mill,'  which  was  decidedly  not  a 
water-millj  and  their  sentiments  were  those  of  Dick 
Swiveller,  who,  as  Chairman  of  the  Glorious  ApoUos, 
proposed  that '  we  might  never  want  a  friend  or  a  bottle 
to  give  him.'  They  were  not  drunkards  :  they  were 
not  Teetotallers  :  they  were  simply  Boozers.  Occasion- 
ally fuddled  and  muddled,  but  rarely  so  far  as  to  find 
Mr.  Bob  Sawyer's  remedy  essential  to  the  regaining 
their  ordinary  common  sense." 

That  puts  the  case  in  a  nutshell  and  needs  little 
comment.  Other  days,  other  manners,  and  it  is  not 
for  us  to  judge  how  far  circumstances  and  temperament 
were  excuses  for  continued  self-indulgence.  For  there 
is  no  blinking  the  fact  that  the  serious  warning  Shirley 
had  received  from  his  doctor  had  but  little  effect. 
Indeed,  the  imperative  order  '*  no  tobacco "  was 
actually  but  two  days  old  when  we  find  him  dallying 
with  the  forbidden  thing  and  writing  in  his  diary  : — 

*'  Had  one  cigar  to  comfort  me,  being  Saturday  night, 
but  was  happy  to  find  that  it  did  not  make  me  happy. 

251 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

This  entry  may  read  to  me  frivolous  hereafter,  but 
I  have  smoked  so  very  much,  and  thought  so  much 
about  it,  and  been  so  unhappy  if  I  missed  my  weed, 
that  I  am  glad  to  feel  that  I  can  emancipate  myself, 
if  I  like." 

That  would  have  been  all  very  satisfactory,  if  it  had 
had  no  sequel,  but  when  we  find  him  recording  in  the 
following  month  that  he  is  ''  smoking  hard  again,''  we 
guess  that  he  has  ceased  to  fight.  Either  circum- 
stances are  too  strong  for  him,  or  he  is  what  Ward 
Beecher  called  ''  a  barrel  without  hoops,  which  is  bound 
to  tumble  to  pieces.'* 

But,  if  he  had  ceased  to  fight  against  these  dangerous 
habits,  he  certainly  had  not  ceased,  and  never  did  till 
his  life's  end  cease,  to  work  with  might  and  main. 
Punch  and  the  Illustrated  London  News  were  now 
between  them  paying  him  about  eight  hundred  a  year. 
And  his  editorship  of  Home  News,  his  work  on  the 
Bristol  Mirror,  his  plays  and  his  novels,  together  with 
sporadic  contributions  to  other  periodicals  must  have 
brought  two  or  three  hundreds  more.  That  meant 
work  of  a  very  arduous  nature,  and  it  is  not  for  us  who 
have  never  done  half  so  much  to  judge  him  too  hardly 
for  whipping  his  jaded  energies  up  to  the  performance 
of  the  tasks  which  he  had  undertaken,  and  which  it 
was  his  duty  to  perform  to  the  best  of  his  ability. 
Foolish  and  short-sighted  he  may  have  been,  but  jour- 
nalism is  a  hard  mistress,  and  is  not  slow  to  discard 
the  servant  who  shows  signs  of  failing.  And  expenses 
were  rapidly  increasing.  There  was  the  house  in  Kent 
Terrace  to  keep  up,  and  there  were  the  two  boys  to  be 

252 


THE  LEIGH  MURRAY  BENEFIT 

educated.  There  were  dinner  parties  to  be  given  and 
a  constantly  enlarging  circle  of  acquaintances  to  be 
entertained  one  way  or  another.  There  were  summer 
holidays  to  be  spent  abroad  or  at  the  seaside,  and,  as 
we  have  seen,  there  were  many  cigars  to  be  smoked 
and  no  inconsiderable  quantity  of  wine  to  be  consumed. 
There  was  his  old  father  to  be  provided  for,  and  there 
were  innumerable  friends  and  relations  who  sponged 
upon  him  to  an  unconscionable  extent.  And  these 
things  could  not  be  paid  for  unless  the  tired  brain  was 
kept  at  its  busiest,  the  willing  heart  strained  to  the 
point  of  exhaustion. 

Nor  were  the  imperative  calls  of  his  employers  the 
only  drain  upon  his  energies.  Overworked  as  he  was, 
he  could  always  find  time  to  do  a  good  turn  for  his 
friends.  To  take  one  example,  on  June  the  27th  we 
find  him  contributing  a  ''  scene  ''  to  be  enacted  by  the 
beneficiaries  at  the  benefit  of  the  Leigh  Murrays  at 
Drary  Lane — a  benefit  at  which,  it  is  interesting  after 
forty  years  to  remember,  Charles  Santley,  still  happily 
with  us,  was  one  of  the  notable  performers.  Unable 
to  be  present  himself , because  he  was  taking  **  medicine,'' 
Shirley  records  : — 

*'  Sent  E.  and  E.  to  Drury  Lane,  to  Leigh  Murray's 
benefit.  They  returned  with  a  glowing  account  of  the 
effect  of  the  scene — the  house  in  tears,  and  waving 
wipes." 

The  "  scene "  is  so  charming  an  example  of  his 
graceful  verse  that  I  make  no  apology  for  rescuing  it 
from  oblivion. 

253 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

Enter  Mrs.  Leigh  Murray. 
Mrs.  L,  M.   When  the  full  heart  is  fullest  lips  are  dumb. 
For  words  turn  traitors  and  refuse  to  come, 
And  if  I  borrow  words  to  tell  our  tale 
Tis  only  that  I  feared  my  own  might  fail : 
For  this  great  kindness,  this  most  generous 

aid. 
Thanks  heaped  on  thanks  must  leave  our 

debt  unpaid. 
Yet  how  to  thank  you  ?    Should  the  actor's 

wife 
Tell  you  the  story  of  his  saddened  life  : 
Of  prostrate  energy,  of  wearying  pain. 
Of  hope  renewed,  but  to  be  crushed  again  : 
Tell  how  the  Artist  sighed  to  tread  once 

more 
The  boards  he  loved — the  drama's  haunted 

floor  : 
Tell  how  the  Husband  burned  to  break  the 

spell 
And  share  Life's  Battle  (once  he  fought  it 

well). 
And  how,  with  sickening  heart,  he  day  by 

day 
And   month   by   month    ''  his   chamber's 

prisoner  "  lay  ? 
This  I  could  tell.     But  to  awake  the  tear 
Were  poor  requital  of  your  presence  here  ; 
Nor  would  I  stand  with  drooping  looks  and 

sad, 
When  you  come  round  us  but  to  make  us 

glad. 
Believe  but  this — that  suffering,  grief,  and 

care 
Have  sometimes  seemed  beyond  what  he 

could  bear, 

254 


THE  LEIGH  MURRAY  BENEFIT 

And  this — our  troubles,  which  like  night- 
birds  prey, 
Scared  by  your  hands  and  voices,  flee  away. 
Fitter  than  mournful  story,  to  my  mind. 
Were  some  brief  interlude  of  cheerier  kind. 
Some  half  dramatic  trifle  to  beguile 
Each  friendly  face  of  an  indulgent  smile, 
And  yet  to  be  no  fiction.     In  the  gloom 
And  the  long  silence  of  the  shaded  room 
His  thoughts  have  oft  recalled  triumphant 

nights. 
The  crowded  theatre,  the  glowing  lights, 
The  new-drawn  character,  the  certain  hit. 
The  storm  of  passion  and  the  fence  of  wit ; 
And  one  whose  love  and  duty  bade  her 

strive 
To  keep  the  moment's  cheerfulness  alive. 
To  make  him  mirthful  answer  would  essay. 
Something  like  what  we  thought  to  say 

to-day. 
Will  you  forgive  such  trespass  on  your  time. 
And  hear  us  talk — as  no  one  talks — in 

rhyme  ? 
If  so,  a  moment's  pardon  while  I  bring 
Our  convalescent  on — he's  near  the  wing. 
Brings  Mr.  Leigh  Murray  forward.  He  is  about 
to  speak. 
Mrs,  L.  M.   Speak  if  you  will,  nor  such  an  impulse 
stem. 
Yet  I  have  told  them  what  we  owe  to  them. 
Mr.  L.  M.     You  have  not  told  them,  as  I  mean  to  do. 
One  hundredth  part  of  what  I  owe  to  you. 
Mrs.  L.  M,   Silence  this  instant,  or  I  go  P.S., 

And  leave  you  to  conclude.     Obedient  ? 
Mr.  L.  M,  Yes. 

Yet,  if  they  only  knew 

255 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

Mrs.  L.  M.  I  only  know 

That  if  I  hear  a  word  of  that,  I  go. 
Mr.  L.  M.     Vm  dumb. 
Mrs.  L.  M.   No,  no  ;   you  need  not  look  so  meek  ; 

On  your  behalf  Fve  promised  you  shall 
speak. 
Mr.  L.  M.     Would  I  had  words  to  thank  them,  one 

and  all. 
Mrs.  L.  M.   Not  yet.     Attend  to  me.     Do  370U  recall 
The  conversation  when  I  asked  you  where 
You  coveted  to  go  for  change  of  air  ? 
Mr.  L.M.     I  think  so.   I  remarked,  my  dear,  that  you 
Surveyed  the  world  from  China  to  Peru. 
Mrs.  L.  M.   Answer  as  you  did  then.     Come,  choose 

your  clime. 
Mr.  L.  M.     Where  have  I  not  been,  madam,  in  my 
time  ? 
Through  Cyprus  some  who're  here  have 

seen  me  walk. 
And  in  Verona's  ball-room  heard  me  talk. 
Mrs.  L.  M.   Would  you  like  Paris  ? 
Mr.  L.  M.     There  Fve  borne  my  part ; 

Surely   you    don't    forget    '*  The    Marble 
Heart.'' 
Mrs.  L.  M.   Rome  ? 

Mr.  L.M.     Fve  been  there  as  Antony,  you  know. 
Mrs.  L.  M.   Sweden  ? 
Mr.  L.  M.     Fve  reigned  there. 
Mrs.  L.  M.   What's  that  island— Oh  ! 

Mauritius — will   that   suit   you,   o'er   the 

wave  ? 

Mr.  L.  M.     'Twas  there  I  fought  a  Creole  for  a  slave. 

Mrs.  L.  M.   Then  be  content  with  going  out  of  town — 

Some    quiet    village,    near    some    breezy 

down — 
Say  Chobham. 
256 


THE  LEIGH    MURRAY   BENEFIT 

Mr.  L,  M,     Tve  been  there.     Though  now  he's  tamer, 
Some    persons    may    remember  Captain 
Darner. 
Mrs.  L.  M.   Bath's  pleasant. 
Mr,  L.  M.     Captain  Absolute  can  tell 

That  he  was  quartered  there  and  liked  it 
well. 
Mrs.  L.  M.   My  list  is  done.     To  make  it  more,  I  fear 

I  must  go  home  and  fetch  the  Gazetteer. 
Mr.  L.  M.     Mine  is  not  half  exhausted — yet  I  trust 

To  make  it  longer. 
Mrs.  L.  M.   And  you  shall  and  must, 

Thanks  to  the  generous  friends  whoVe 

cleared  our  way. 
To  sunny  lands  where  southern  breezes 

play. 
Where,  health  restored,  and  Ufe  in  every 

vein, 
I  pray  to  hear  '*  Richard's  himself  again." 
Mr.  L,  M.     Now  I  must  speak.     My  words  shall  be 
but  few. 
(To  the  audience.) 

Let  me    but  own  my   pleasant  debt  to 

you. 
My   ship   is   nobly   launched.     A   Royal 

hand 
Hath  kindly  deigned  to  help  it  from  the 

sand. 
Your  hands  have  urged  it  on,  and  let  me 

say. 
Those  of  my  own  dear  craft  have  given  it 

way. 
It  floats.     Farewell !     A  prosperous 

voyage  or  not, 
God  bless  you  !     This  can  never  be  forgot. 

{Exeunt.) 
257 

i8— (2297) 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

Henry  Leigh  Murray,  round  whom  and  his  clever  wife 
Shirley  and  many  other  friends  had  rallied  in  the  hour 
of  sickness  and  misfortune,  a  sound  and  painstaking 
actor,  who  had  done  good  work  with  Macready  and 
Helen  Faucit  (Lady  Martin),  was  destined  to  survive 
his  benefit  but  a  few  years.  His  wife,  a  clever  actress 
in  domestic  comedy,  was  the  daughter  of  Henry  Lee, 
author  of  ''  Throw  Physic  to  the  Dogs." 

In  August  of  this  year  Shirley  and  his  wife  were  the 
guests  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Frith  at  Scarborough.  Others 
of  the  party  were  Mr.  J.  C.  Parkinson,  who  had  just 
returned  from  the  historic  trip  of  the  Great  Eastern, 
when  the  great  Atlantic  cable  had  snapped  in  mid- 
ocean,  Horace  May  hew,  the  Sotherns,  W.  O'Neil,  and 
the  Yateses.  Mr.  Parkinson  tells  me  that,  notwith- 
standing his  absence  from  London,  Shirley  always 
wore  a  top  hat  and  a  frock  coat  and  could  hardly  be 
induced  to  take  any  exercise.  He  preferred  to  spend 
his  time  indoors  and  ''  to  surround  himself  with  what 
appeared  to  be  every  newspaper  published,  which  he 
skimmed  with  rapidity  and  never  seemed  to  tire  of.'' 
One  amusement  which  he  really  enjoyed  was  the 
"  circus,''  which  the  party  much  affected  and  at  which 
''  command  "  performances  were  given  for  their  amuse- 
ment. Amongst  their  acquaintances  was  a  certain 
sprig  of  nobility,  of  late  years  holding  high  office  in  the 
House  of  Commons,  whose  roving  eye  fell  upon  the 
circus-proprietor's  pretty  daughter.  One  night  the 
noble  father  of  the  young  aristocrat  and  the  circus- 
proprietor  turned  up  in  great  perturbation  at  the 
Friths'  lodgings.     The  girl  had  gone  off  and  so  had 

258 


AN  ELOPEMENT  AND  A   RESCUE 

the  young  sprig.  Shirley  and  Mr.  Frith  at  once 
started  in  pursuit  and  fortunately  discovered  the  girl 
no  further  off  than  the  railway  station.  Here  a  lurid 
picture  was  drawn  of  what  would  be  her  fate  when  her 
lover  had  tired  of  her,  and  she  was  brought  back  before 
much  harm  was  done.  Some  time  after  Shirley 
received  a  charming  letter  from  the  lady,  saying  that, 
thanks  to  him,  she  was  a  happy  wife  and  mother,  and 
that  she  blessed  him  every  day  of  her  life. 

Through  the  kindness  of  Mrs.  Panton(Miss  ''  Sissy '' 
Frith),  I  am  enabled  to  add  to  this  record  the  following 
''  Passages  from  a  Diary  of  a  Celebrated  R.A.,  and  of 
a  Distinguished  Author,  with  incidental  notices  of  an 
*  Ornary  Cuss  '  and  Other  Persons,"  written  at  the  time 
by  Shirley,  and  describing  one  day  of  the  Scarborough 
visit.  The  ''  Harrow  Boy  "  referred  to  is  Mr.  C.  G.  Frith. 
*'  Sarony  *'  is  of  course  the  well-known  photographer,  of 
whom  Shirley  writes  in  a  letter  of  this  date  :  ''  Photo- 
graphy here  is  in  all  its  vulgar er  glory,  and  there  is  an 
artist,  Sarony,  who  has  built  the  splendidest  place  out 
of  his  profits ;  of  course  I  have  sat,  ecce  signum,  but 
he  has  done  better  than  this." 

*'  7  a.m. — ^The  Harrow  Boy  sets  the  household  a  good 
example.  He  rises,  and  throws  himself  into  Latin, 
Greek,  Algebra,  and  other  branches  of  learning.  His 
example  is  not  followed,  though  his  footsteps  are,  by 
the  row  he  makes  in  going. 

''  7.30. — Various  noises.  Invitation  to  purchase 
herrings  dominates  everything. 

*'  8.0. — Miss  Frith  goes  out  banging  all  the  doors. 
Mr.  Brooks  remarks  on  the  inside  of  his  door  that  there 

259 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

is  no  rest  for  the  wicked  and  not  much  for  the  ungodly. 
He  gets  up. 

*'  8.30. — The  rest  of  the  house  is  supposed  to  be 
rising. 

'  ''  8.45. — Messrs.  Frith,  O'Neil,  and  Brooks  meet  at 
the  Springs,  and  proceed  to  contradict  each  other  on 
every  given  question.  O'Neil  declares  the  cold  water 
to  be  refreshing,  on  which  the  other  two  accuse  him  of 
having  takeh^too  much  brandy  over  night.  Brooks 
says  the  waters  are  humbug,  on  which  Frith  declares 
that  they  cure  all  diseases  of  mind  and  body.  O'Neil 
says  that  the  day  is  hot.  Frith  replies  that  the  thermo- 
meter has  gone  down.  Brooks  observes  that  none  of 
the  Scarborough  thermometers  are  good  for  anything. 
0*Neil  agrees  with  this,  on  which  Brooks  says  that  the 
one  at  Albion  Road  is  from  London,  and  a  very  good 
one.  Frith  says  it  was  made  at  York  and  is  good  for 
nothing.  0*Neil  explains  the  Atlantic  cable,  to  which 
explanation  Frith  replies  that  he  hopes  there  is  ham 
for  breakfast,  and  Brooks  wishes  he  had  the  Leeds 
Mercury.  O'Neil  buys  a  stick  because  he  says  it  is 
going  to  rain.  Frith  quotes  poetry.  Brooks  abuses 
the  Spa  and  all  the  visitors.  O'Neil  again  explains  the 
Atlantic  cable  and  goes  away.  The  other  two  make 
faces  at  him,  and  after  a  quarrel  which  road  they  shall 
take,  return  to  breakfast. 

'*  9.15. — Mrs.  Frith  rebukes  them  for  keeping  break- 
fast waiting.  Frith  replies  that  it  may  wait,  and — 
something  else,  but  Brooks  being  a  visitor  has  grace 
enough  to  be  polite  and  declare  that  they  have  come 
back  earlier  than  usual  and  that  they  were  kept  waiting 
yesterday.  Mrs.  Frith  repays  evil  with  good,  and  gives 
them  an  admirable  breakfast.  Mrs.  Shirley  repines 
because  she  has  no  letters  from  Oxford.  Brooks  is 
sulky  because  there  is  a  piece  of  bone  in  his  ham,  and 
wishes  that  his  wife  had  helped  him  to  it  that  he  might 

260 


PASSAGES   FROM    A  COMIC  DIARY 

have  expressed  his  feelings.  Frith  reads  letters  at 
breakfast,  and  anathematises  the  various  writers, 
who  are  defended  by  Mrs.  Frith.  Pearce*  gets  on  the 
window-sill  and  Miss  Frith  destroys  the  remaining  peace 
of  the  meal  by  pretending  to  think  that  he  will  fall  out. 
Brooks  wishes  that  he  could.  The  Harrow  Boy  fetches 
cigars.  These  calm  Frith  and  Brooks,  and  their 
growls  are  temporarily  exchanged  for  sweetness.  They 
hope  that  the  ladies  will  make  out  a  pleasant  day,  but 
ingeniously  defeat  or  evade  every  proposition  for 
excursions  or  other  enjoyments. 

^'  10. — Frith  and  Brooks  go  into  the  drawing-room, 
take  the  best  chairs  and  the  last  papers,  and  smoke 
benevolently,  repeating  their  hopes  that  the  ladies 
will  enjoy  themselves.  Mrs.  Shirley  reads  and  abuses 
a  novel.  Miss  Frith  writes  a  letter  mysteriously. 
Mrs.  Frith  orders  dinner.     (Bless  her.) 

*'  11. — Frith  and  Brooks,  having  smoked  two  cigars 
and  read  all  the  papers,  have  soda  and  brandy,  and 
abuse  O'Neil  for  not  coming  up  with  some  plan  for  the 
day.  Brooks  declares  that  O'Neil  can't  paint,  and  Frith 
alleges  that  he  cut  the  Atlantic  cable  because  the 
Captain  would  not  give  him  a  third  bottle  of  Burgundy. 
The  ladies  defend  O'Neil  because  he  gave  them  peaches, 
which  he  asserted  cost  ninepence  each,  a  statement 
derided  by  Frith  and  Brooks. 

''  11.30.— Mrs.  Shirley  and  Miss  Frith  leave  the 
house.  Brooks  says  that  he  must  write,  and  Frith 
talks  of  devoting  himself  to  art.  The  former  goes 
upstairs  and  reads  a  French  novel,  and  the  latter  goes 
over  to  Sarony's  (because  he  can  be  seen  from  the 
windows  to  go  there),  but  is  not  there  when  Brooks, 
having  read  the  novel,  goes  over.     They  meet  later  on 

*  The  dog,  named  after  the  well-known  sporting  Dorsetshire 
parson,  who  wrote  under  the  pseudonym  "  Idstone  "  for  The  Field. 


SHIRLEY   BROOKS 

the  Esplanade,  and  each  declares  he  has  been  sitting 
on  one  of  the  benches  for  an  hour.  They  agree  to  say 
that  they  have  been  waiting  to  be  photographed. 
When  asked  whether  they  have  seen  the  negative,  they 
reply  in  it !  Brooks  proposes  to  fish,  and  Frith  says 
it  is  too  rough.  Frith  proposes  to  sail,  and  Brooks  says 
there  is  no  wind. 

''  12.30. — Frith  and  Brooks  have  more  cigars  to 
refresh  them  after  their  artistic  and  literary  labours. 
They  quote  poetry  alternately  for  half-an-hour,  and 
Mrs.  Frith  privately  wonders  whether  she  could  get 
presentations  for  them  to  the  Earlswood  Asylum. 

*'  1. — Cake  and  wine.  Mrs.  Shirley  and  Miss  Frith 
came  in,  the  former  enraged  because  she  could  not 
bathe,  the  latter  because  she  has  had  to  speak  to  a 
'  cad  *  on  the  Spa.  Frith  remarks  (from  Burns)  that 
'  a  man*s  a  man  for  a'  that,'  and  that  '  rank  is  but  the 
guinea  stamp.'  Brooks  quotes  Dr.  Watts  with  profane 
alterations.  Frith  sings  a  popular  air  of  a  pensive  kind 
of  the  year  1835,  and  Brooks  tells  a  story  (thought  to 
be  untrue)  about  his  recollections  of  1821.  After  their 
athletic  exercises  they  have  more  cigars.  The  ladies 
all  read  novels,  and  declare  them  idiotic.  Mrs.  Shirley 
begins  to  net,  but  diverging  first  into  knitting  and  then 
into  crochet,  makes  no  great  progress.  Miss  Frith 
reads  a  letter  for  the  ninth  time,  and  then  tears  it  into 
very  small  pieces.  Everybody  condemns  O'Neil  for 
his  unprincipled  conduct  in  not  coming  up  with  some 
plan,  and  everybody  asserts  positively  that  he  pledged 
himself  to  do  so,  but  all  disagree  as  to  the  hour  he 
fixed. 

*'  1.30. — Frith  and  Brooks  go  out  to  the  relief  of  the 
ladies.  Brooks  wishes,  with  a  laudable  curiosity,  to 
go  and  see  certain  paintings  which  are  being  exhibited 
in  the  town,  but  Frith  rancorously  denounces  the 
proposition,  and  offers  to  go  to  the  circus.     Brooks  is 

262 


SCARBOROUGH 

abusive  about  mountebanks,  and  says  he  came  here 
for  air  and  not  sawdust.  They  compromise  by  going 
to  Theakst one's,  where  Brooks  buys  a  map  of  Scar- 
borough, which  can  be  of  no  earthly  use,  and  Frith 
takes  elaborate  particulars  touching  certain  excursions 
on  which  he  has  not  the  remotest  idea  of  going.  They 
look  into  the  Town  Hall  and  wrangle  over  its  date, 
which  Brooks  calls  Queen  Anne  and  Frith  George  the 
Second.  At  the  entrance  of  a  policeman  they  drop 
their  voices  and  compliment  him  on  a  beastly  old 
picture  of  Jackson's  which  Frith  says  is  worthy  of 
Salvator  Rosa,  and  Brooks  thinks  is  an  early  Rubens. 
The  policeman  sees  them  out,  and  looks  at  the  Hue  and 
Cry  to  ascertain  whether  they  are  described  in  that 
periodical.  They  are  reduced  to  despair  from  utter 
nothingness  of  purpose  when  they  meet  O'Neil,  who 
explains  the  Atlantic  cable,  and  does  not  ask  them 
into  the  ^  Royal '  to  have  drinks.  They  remark  offen- 
sively on  his  meanness  when  he  does  ask  them  in,  and 
they  retort,  still  more  offensively,  that  previously  to 
going  they  are  resolved  to  witness  his  departure  for 
another  and  a  hotter  world.  All  three  then  lean  against 
rails,  and  in  a  purely  artistic  spirit  make  observations 
on  the  ladies  who  go  by  struggling  against  the  wind. 
Anecdotes  occur  to  them,  and  they  block  up  the 
pavement  by  getting  into  a  group  to  recount  these, 
and  curse  the  inoffensive  passengers  for  wanting  to 
come  by  and  thus  interrupting  a  narrative.  O'Neil 
abused  for  not  having  come  to  Albion  Road,  asserts, 
with  frightful  oaths,  that  he  never  had  the  least  idea 
of  doing  so.  He  is  invited  to  dinner  by  Frith,  but 
surlily  refuses,  at  which,  when  O'Neil  has  gone  into  his 
hotel.  Brooks  expresses  satisfaction.  Being  asked  why, 
he  is  unable  to  say,  but  rides  off  into  general  abuse  of 
all  connected  with  the  Atlantic  cable.  Frith  in  a 
savagely    contradictory    spirit    praises    O'Neil    until 

263 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

Brooks  admits  that  he  has  good  points,  when  Frith 
retracts  and  proposes  to  go  and  see  the  artillery  prac- 
tice. Brooks  is  about  to  wish  the  artillery  under  fire 
which  they  would  not  like,  when  he  remembers  that 
he  is  a  guest  who  is  receiving  (all  things  considered) 
tolerable  hospitable  entertainment,  and  gives  an 
ungracious  assent,  in  which  Frith  changes  his  mind, 
and  they  go  home  and  have  more  cigars. 

'*  3. — The  ladies  mutiny  and  declare  that  they  are 
never  taken  anywhere.  Frith  quotes  poetry  to  the 
effect  that  woman's  smile  is  sweetest  at  home,  and 
Brooks  cites  the  Scripture  to  show  that  she  should  be 
a  '  stayer '  there,  but  these  agreements  being  utterly 
despised,  the  party,  increased  by  additions,  go  out  in 
a  break  and  are  frightfully  bumped  and  covered  with 
dust.  (N.B. — For  purposes  of  art  this  is  described  in 
a  general  way,  but  two  such  journeys  were  actually 
performed.  On  one  occasion  the  party,  about  ten, 
went  to  Filey,  and  had  a  pigeon-pie,  which  was  made 
of  '  high '  fragments  of  steak,  and  on  the  second  the 
party,  about  seventeen,  went  to  Hackness  and  had 
nothing  except  a  lounge  in  a  churchyard  and  a  narrow 
escape  from  a  spill.)  But  the  excursion  had  a  sensa- 
tional character,  and  everybody,  probably  to  annoy 
everybody  else,  was  delighted.  Brooks  and  Frith 
quoted  poetry  with  much  fluency,  and  to  the  intense 
satisfaction  of  their  companions,  though  the  latter  are 
too  delicate  to  give  any  sign  of  the  gratification  they 
must  have  experienced  at  the  recitations. 

'*  4. — (If  no  excursion.)  Frith  and  Brooks  suddenly 
discover  that  it  is  a  shame  that  the  ladies  should  have 
no  enjoyment,  so  take  them  out,  and  with  curious 
alacrity  put  them  into  a  bad  carriage  with  a  tired  horse 
and  a  sulky  driver,  and  send  them  along  the  dustiest 
road  that  can  be  selected.  (N.B. — The  ladies  are 
speedily    disgusted   and    come    home    and    meditate 

264 


SCARBOROUGH 

several  things  to  be  said  to  the  traitors,  who,  meantime, 
have  gone  to  make  a  pleasant  call,  have  seen  pretty 
pictm-es,  and  eaten  cool  grapes.) 

*'  4.50. — Frith  and  Brooks  go  to  fetch  the  Times,  and 
are  indecorously  frantic  because  it  has  been  already 
fetched  by  some  of  the  family.  They  think  of  buying 
another  copy  to  read  as  they  walk  home,  but  Theak- 
stone  has  not  got  one,  so  they  are  saved  this  folly. 
They  go  down  on  the  Spa  and  find  O'Neil,  whom  they 
vituperate  for  not  being  at  home  at  work.  He  explains 
the  Atlantic  cable,  and  is  called  an  '  Ornary  Cuss  ' 
(Artemus  Ward),  and  the  other  two  are  put  into 
singular  good  humour  by  this  display  of  their  wit. 
They  quarrel,  however,  as  to  which  water  should  be 
taken  before  dinner,  but  Frith  proposes  to  drink  both, 
and  quotes  the  '  Meeting  of  the  Waters  '  so  appro- 
priately that  Brooks  is  compelled  to  be  poHte,  and  wish 
that  his  host  would  trust  more  often  to  his  excellent 
memory  and  less  to  his  inferior  originaUty.  O'Neil 
is  desired  to  come  up  in  the  evening  for  cards,  on  which 
he  utters  several  insults  and  retires,  saying  that  he 
will  see  about  it.  The  others  exchange  confidences 
on  his  personal  character. 

"  5.30. — Brooks  and  Frith  come  in  and  declare  that 
they  have  walked  eight  miles.  Brooks  says  that  if  he 
does  not  have  some  sherry  he  will  go  to  the  window 
and  bellow  that  he  is  not  mad,  but  that  Frith  is  keeping 
him  a  prisoner  to  get  his  property.  He  gets  sherry. 
The  ladies  complain  of  the  bad  carriage,  and  Frith, 
looking  out  and  believing  that  it  will  rain  next  day, 
promises  them  a  drive  to-morrow^,  and  declares  that 
he  has  bespoken  a  conveyance.  Brooks  dresses  for 
dinner  by  turning  down  his  wristbands  and  Frith  by 
pulling  up  his  collars.  The  obituary  in  the  Times  is 
read  and  many  good  jokes  are  made  on  the  names  of 
the  defunct,  chiefly  by  Brooks,  who  is  insulted  for  his 

m 


SHIRLEY   BROOKS 

alleged  levity.  Frith  quotes  '  There  is  a  tear  for  all 
who  die/  but  does  not  know  the  second  line. 

''  6. — {And  very  punctual.)  Dinner,  and  a  very 
good  one,  so  all  soften  and  are  happy,  except  Mrs. 
Shirley,  who  repines  that  the  second  post  brings  her 
no  letter  from  Oxford. 

''  7. — O'Neil  comes  in  to  wine  (will  not  take  any)  and 
smoke  (brings  his  own  cigars).  He  presents  Frith  and 
Brooks  with  two  which  cost  ninepence  each.  They 
blush,  privately,  at  having  accused  him  of  meanness 
and  immediately  abuse  him  for  extravagance.  He 
explains  the  Atlantic  cable  and  is  called  an  '  Ornary 
Cuss.'  The  ladies  retire  and  a  fierce  debate  on  high 
art,  interspersed  with  scandalous  anecdotes  of  its 
professors,  follows.  Discussion  as  to  the  next  President 
of  the  R.A.  O'Neil  suggests  Gilbert  Scott,  on  which 
Frith  dances  on  the  table  with  rage.  Getting  down, 
he  speaks  evil  of  architects,  on  which  Brooks,  who  has 
two  in  his  family,  turns  livid  and  describes  painters  as 
people  who  furnish  the  houses  built  by  architects. 
Frith  is  too  exhausted  to  reply,  but  O'Neil,  so  furious, 
that  he  takes  a  glass  of  water  by  mistake,  threatens  to 
cut  up  Brooks  in  Blackwood.  They  all  foam  and 
rave  at  once,  until  Horace  Mayhew  comes  in  with  some 
French  newspapers,  and  the  conversation  takes  a 
different  turn  and  chiefly  laments  the  unworthiness  of 
most  persons  known  to  the  four. 

''  9. — ^They  go  up  to  tea  and  cards.  Here  O'NeiFs 
superiority  at  last  asserts  itself  ;  he  knows  all  the  cards 
{somehow) J  and  is  detested  accordingly.  Brooks's  play 
is  not  understood,  but  his  perfect  obtuseness  and 
sweetness  of  temper  prevent  his  comprehending  the 
invitation  of  his  partner.  Miss  Frith  looks  over  shoul- 
ders, and  is  scolded  by  her  he-parent  when  he  has  a 
bad  hand.  Mayhew  is  frightfully  eager  to  win,  and 
curses  the   cards  in   elegant   French,   which   nobody 

266 


PASSAGES   FROM  A  COMIC  DIARY 

understands.  Mrs.  Shirley  reads  Fielding's  '  Amelia/ 
and  speaks  profanely  of  that  classic.  Brooks  growls 
that  it  would  be  well  if  she  would  imitate  Amelia.  Is 
told  that  he  certainly  resembles  Booth,  and  shuts  up. 
Frith  quotes  Lord  Byron  for  several  minutes,  and,  being 
exhausted,  calls  the  cards  '  Cusses,'  and  at 

*'  10. — Soda  and  brandy  come.  Cigars  resumed. 
The  Harrow  Boy  is  got  to  bed  with  some  difficulty, 
and  as  he  is  the  only  one  of  the  party  who  has  worked 
or  played  in  earnest,  his  vitality  is  an  object  of  envy  to 
the  rest.  The  '  Ornary  Cuss  '  goes,  taking  Horace, 
who  tries  to  stay  in  order  to  save  the  toll,  but  is  ejected. 
The  ladies  retire.  Frith  offers  Brooks  another  cigar, 
hoping  that  he  will  not  take  it,  but  he  is  wretch  enough 
to  do  so,  and  to  keep  his  weary  host  talking  until  10.45, 
when  a  sense  of  shame  comes  over  the  author,  and  he 
impudently  asks  whether  Frith  wishes  to  sit  up  any 
later.  The  latter  retorts  with  more  alacrity  than 
politeness,  and  at 

**  11. — Brooks  retires  to  stick  combs  into  the  window 
of  his  room,  and  toothbrushes  under  the  door  to  prevent 
rattling,  and  makes  more  noise  than  any  gale  of  wind. 
Frith  reads  the  Times  until  he  falls  asleep  in  his  chair, 
and  at 

"^''  11.45. — The  last  word  is  spoken  in  the  house.  It 
is  in  a  gentle  voice,  saying — 

''  '  William  !  " 

**  11.46. — The  last  sound  is  uttered  in  the  house. 
It  is  a  half-sleep  answer  to  the  voice,  and  is — 

'''  Um?    Ah  r     (The  R.A.  goes  to  bed.) " 

Of  this  performance  I  find  it  recorded  in  the  diary — 

''  Began  a  diary  of  our  life  here,  for  the  diversion  of  the 
household,  but  one  had  to  avoid  so  many  corns  that  I 
could  not  do  much  with  it." 

267 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

From    Scarborough    the    Brookses   proceeded    to 
Scotland,  whence  Shirley  wrote  : — 

S.  B.  TO  Mr.  W.  p.  Frith,  R.A.* 

"  woodfield, 

"  Inverness. 
*'  My  dear  Frith, 

**  Id  nous  sommes.  Thanks  for  forwarding  letters. 
I  owe  you  a  great  heap  of  stamps,  and  shall  have  very 
great  pleasure  in  paying  you  the  compliment  of  con- 
tinuing to  owe  them.  The  principal  ornament  of  the 
hotel-room  at  Banavie  (Benjamin  Nevis)  is  the  work 
by  one  Frith,  R.A.,  representing  somebody  coming  of 
age,  and  in  our  sitting-room  the  same  artist  is  repre- 
sented again  by  the  girl  warning  a  dog  to  behave 
himself.  I  wish  you  had  been  with  us  on  this  voyage, 
as  the  weather  was  perfect  and  the  scenery  (if  you 
could  appreciate  it)  came  out  strong.  Curious  animals 
on  board,  some  very  pretty  faces  included  (if  you  could 
appreciate  female  loveliness),  and  some  creditable 
ankles.  It  is  as  hot  here  as  Scarborough,  and  there 
are  Highland  games  going  on  ;  so  there  is  no  peace  for 
the  wicked,  and  very  little  for  the  ungodly.  I  am 
sitting  in  a  clatter  and  chatter.  Excuse  good  spelling. 
I  wish  Sarony,  the  photographer,  would  send  me  a  few 
photos  of  myself  here,  for  distribution  among  the 
Highland  aristocracy.  We  are  among  swells.  Three 
dukes  arrived  last  night — Manchester,  WeUington,  and 
the  Duke  of  Fife,  and  we  had  some  kind  of  prince  with 
wopping  blue  eyes  on  board — Hesse,  I  think.  Some- 
thing better  than  your  Leeds  and  Wakefield  swells,  eh  ! 
but  then  we  have  no  Royal  Academicians.  I|hope, 
however,  to  see  Phillip,  R.A.,  to-day.  He  is  much 
feted  by  the  resident  gentry,   I  hear,  which  shows 

*  Vide  Frith's  "  Reminiscences,"  Vol.  Ill,  p.  282. 

m 


IN  SCOTLAND 

something  like  a  respect  for  art,  and  is  a  proof  that 
they  really  do  not  know  what  artists  are. 

''  Write  us  a  letter,  and  tell  me  how  you  all  get  on  ; 

has corrected  his  proofs  and  his  morals  ?     I  wish 

you  could  see  the  tourists  in  the  boats,  they  are  lovely 
fun  ;  and  their  enthusiasm,  when  they  have  carefully 
read  the  guide-book  and  are  quite  sure  that  they  are 
at  the  right  place  to  begin  yelling,  is  most  delicious. 
I  had  opportunities  of  lying  unto  several  with  extem- 
pore legends,  and  I  am  happy  to  say  that  I  availed 
myself  thereof. 

''  We  shall  be  here  for  two  or  three  days,  I  s'pose, 
and  then  to  the  Glen  ;  but  this  will  be  the  last  address. 

**  Ever  yours  faithfully, 

'*  Shirley  Brooks.'' 

Here  is  what  he  wrote  from  the  same  place  to  Punch. 
It  is  a  good  example  of  the  way  in  which  he  turned  into 
"  copy  "  the  ordinary  and  prosaic  happenings  of  the 
day  :— 

"  Drumnadrochit. 
"  My  dear  '  Mr.  Punch,' 

''  My  last  despatch  left  me,  or  rather  you,  at  the 
foot  of  Ben  Nevis.  For  my  own  part,  I  could  have 
remained  there — when  I  say  '  there,'  I  mean,  however, 
at  a  comfortable  inn  called  after  the  Arms  of  him  who 
was  respectfully  advised  to  beware  of  the  day  when 
the  Lowlands  should  meet  him  in  battle  array — ^but 
aliter  visum — and  once  more  I  had  to  rise  at  six  in  the 
morning.  I  like  to  sit  in  a  chair  when  I  eat  my  break- 
fast, and  to-day  I  indulged  this  whim  before  embarking. 
While  dispatching  my  modest  meal  (haddock,  chop, 
ham  and  eggs,  eggs  plain,  bramble  jam,  toast,  marma- 
lade, strong  tea,  and  a  dram),  my  eye  feU — bother, 
both  my  eyes  went  up  to  an  engraving  of  Mr.  Frith' s 
celebrated   picture — which   depicts   the   ceremony   of 

269 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

gratulating  a  young  heir,  of  other  days,  on  his  coming 
of  age.  You  tell  me  that  large  numbers  of  your  readers 
desire  to  know  '  what  your  Valued  Contributor  is  like 
to  look  at/  Let  them  procure  that  engraving,  and 
in  the  face  and  figure  of  the  graceful  young  Heir  they 
will  find  a  remarkable  resemblance  to  myself.  If  I 
regret  anything,  it  is  that  I  was  not  also  born  to  a 
mansion  and  estate,  though  your  liberal  appreciation  of 
my  genius  makes  this  regret  almost  ungracious.  I  wish 
that  Mr.  Frith  would  paint  the  touching  scene  that 
occurred  when  you,  manly  tears  half  choking  your 
utterance,  presented  me  with  the  delightful  villa  and 
grounds,  coachhouse  and  stables,  and  hot  and  cold 
water  on  the  premises,  to  which  I  shall  have  returned 
in  a  few  days." 

From  the  same  place  he  sent  Mr.  Frith  the  following 

jeu  d/ esprit : —  * 

"THEOLOGICAL  HOROLOGY. 

*'  There's  this  to  say  about  the  Scotch, 
•  So  bother  bannocks,  braes,  and  birks ; 

They  can't  produce  a  decent  Watch, 
For  Calvinists  despise  good  works." 

In  October  the  Brookses  were  back  in  London,  and 
Shirley,  who  during  his  hoHday  had  still  kept  his 
editors  supplied  with  ''  copy,*'  was  harder  at  work 
than  ever. 

On  the  19th  he  contributes  his  first  batch  of  ''  Punch's 
Table  Talk  *' — *'  A  notion  of  mine,''  he  says,  *'  which 
will  enable  me  to  fire  away  good  stories  of  miscellaneous 
reading  and  thinking."  It  was  the  first  of  a  long  series 
of  disjointed  paragraphs,  which,  at  this  distance  of 
time,  it  must  be  confessed,  read  rather  jejunely. 

♦  Afterwards  used  in  Punch. 

270 


DEATH  OF  PALMERSTON 

On  October  12th,  he  records  in  his  diary  : — 

*'  T.  Taylor,  Bristol,  intimates  that  he  cannot  longer 
afford  the  luxury  of  a  London  Letter.  This  I  expected, 
and  am  glad  that  the  work,  which  was  irksome  and  cut 
into  better  things,  will  cease.  He  wrote  very  properly, 
and  I  replied  very  ditto.  .  .  .  Emily  went  to  Oxford 
to  see  the  boys,  and  reported  very  well  of  Rego,  but 
thinks  the  Pig*  not  so  happy.  R.  has  swum  across  the 
Thames  and  back.     Bravo  !  *' 

On  October  14th  :— 

''  Got  box  for  E.  and  Mrs.  Frith  at  Adelphi — went. 
Saw  Mrs.  Mellon's  capital  Nan  in  '  Good  for  Nothing' ; 
real  acting.  Jeffreson,  the  American,  in  *  Rip  Van 
Winkle,'  which  has  been  a  hit — crowded  house.  The 
best  American  actor  I  have  seen,  and  the  first  act,  while 
Rip  is  young,  the  best  acting  I  have  seen  for  years. 
Repose,  ease,  and  absence  of  all  stage  trick.  The  piece 
is  weak,  like  all  Boucicault's,  because  the  author  has 
no  earnestness,  and  half  the  house  cried  while  the  other 
half  laughed.  I  have  seen  the  play  somewhere,  in 
another  form,  and  acted  by  some  other  American,  years 
ago.  Fearfully  hot,  and  this  is  the  way  we  undo  the 
good  done  by  Highland  air.  I  won't  more  than  I  can 
help/' 

On  October  18th  Lord  Palmerston  dies,  and  he 
writes  : — 

"  Some  words  in  the  Times  to-day  had  rather  pre- 
pared me  for  this,  and  I  abstained  from  writing  the 
second  Illustrated  N.  article  until  next  day.  M.  L. 
sent  me  up  word  of  the  death,  and  asked  me  to  write 
something  for  P.P.  It  is  a  difficult  work,  but  I 
accepted.     I  am  glad  I  saw  so  much  of  Palmerston  in 

*  Cecil's  nickname. 

271 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

the  House.  I  heard  the  great  Pacifico  speech,  15th 
June,  1850,  and  did  the  summary.  I  heard  PeeFs  last 
speech,  made  in  the  same  debate.  I  wrote  to  Pal- 
merston  for  his  autograph  with  that  date  and  he  sent 
it  me  a  year  afterwards,  saying  that  he  took  it  for 
granted  that  I  was  one  of  those  who  held  by  the  old 
saying,  better  late  than  never.  It  is  in  the  frame  with 
the  not  good  portrait  of  him.  I  think  that  the  last 
time  I  saw  him  was  after  the  inauguration  of  Durham's 
statue  of  the  Consort,  in  S.  Kensington  Gardens,  when 
we  were  quite  close  in  the  crowd  coming  away — he  was 
in  the  Windsor  uniform.  He  would  have  been  81 
had  he  lived  till  Friday.     A  true  Englishman.'' 

The  verses  occupied  him  all  day,  but  in  the  end 
proved  so  good  that  Brinley  Richards,  the  composer 
of  *'  God  bless  the  Prince  of  Wales,"  set  them  to 
music.  One  verse,  however,  drew  down  upon  his  head 
the  animadversions  of  an  anonymous  correspondent, 
who  pointed  out  that  in  it  he  had  used  seven  ''  his's  " 
and  six  ''  hers  "  ! 

It  ran  : — 

*'  But  his  heart  was  his  England's,  his  idol  her  honour. 
Her  friend  was  his  friend,  and  his  foe  was  her  foe, 
Were  her  mandate  despised,  or  a  scowl  passed  upon  her, 
How  stern  his  rebuke,  or  how  vengeful  his  blow  !  " 

''  He  can  count,"  wrote  Shirley.  ''  Ass  !  I  should 
have  put  more  if  I  had  wanted  them.'' 

On  October  27th  Palmerston  was  buried,  and  he 
notes  : — 

'*  A  fine  day,  as  Palmerston  would  have  desired. 
An  English  funeral,  unless  military,  is  a  miserable 
show,  and  this  was  no  exception.  An  interminable 
string  of  carriages." 

272 


B.   &  E.   ''AND   CO." 

On  November  1st  there  is  a  "  stunning  '*  entertain- 
ment given  to  the  Punch  staff  at  the  "Albion/*  "as 
a  sort  of  inauguration  of  the  new  firm  (Bradbury, 
Evans  and  Co.),  and  the  introduction  of  the  Agnews. 
It  was  what  Bunsby  would  call  a  howling  good  dinner. 
All  the  staff,  the  4  B.  &  E.'s  and  3  Agnews  (not  T. 
Taylor,  who  pleaded  illness).  I  will  set  the  array, 
as  it  may  not  be  gathered  again  in  a  hurry.  B.  made 
a  long  speech,  commending  the  sons  to  the  friendship 
of  the  Punch  men.  Evans  said  that  the  history  of 
B.  &  E.  had  begun,  continued,  and  ended  in  mistakes, 
but  now  all  was  to  go  right.  M.  L.  spoke  very  well 
and  with  an  intention  that  a  non-interference  policy 
must  be  adhered  to.  I  proposed  /  The  Ladies,'  and 
Horace  replied. 

F.  M.  E. 
M.  L.  Leigh 

J.  Tenniel  Burnand 

Thos.  Agnew  Agnew 

S.  B.  T.  T.  should  have  been  here 

Fred  W.  Bradbury 

Silver  Keene 

J.  H.  Agnew  Bennett 

Du  Maurier  Horace  M. 

Bradbury 

"  After  Mark  had  sung  '  Cupid's  Garden,'  and 
while  du  Maurier  was  on  a  French  song,  I  left,  and 
dashed  home  in  a  hansom,  but  the  bulk  of  the  party 
stayed  late." 

Seven  years  later,  on  the  retirement  of  Mr.  F.  M. 
Evans,  the  firm  became  Bradbury,  Agnew  &  Co.,  as  it 
is  to  this  day. 

About  this  time  Percival  Leigh  sends  him  his 
photograph. 

273 

19— (2297) 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

S.  B.  TO  Percival  Leigh. 

"  Thanks,  my  dear  Leigh.  It  is  simply  damnable, 
and  I  shall  give  it  a  place  only  until  you  have  satten, 
sitten,  sotten,  what  is  it,  to  a  London  man,  and  had  a 
decent  one  done.  Yet,  what  wouldn't  one  give  for 
even  so  bad  a  likeness  of  many  a  friend  who  was 
absorbed  into  Buddha  before  the  art  was  invented  ? 

*'  I  hope  you'll  like  *  Table  Talk '  ;  the  idea  came 
on  me  in  Scotland,  as  a  means  of  saying  anything  that 
one  remembered,  or  thought  of.  Mark  was  greatly 
pleased.  I  shall  go  on  with  the  series  if  it  seem  to  be 
liked  by  you  all,  and  whether  the  kangaroos  outside 
like  it  or  not.* 

'*  Yes,  yesterday  was  beastly.  It  was  essential  that 
something  should  be  posted  in  a  pillar  box,  and  I  could 
not  send  out  my  women  in  such  weather,  so  went 
myself  and  earned  an  extra  glass  of  gin  and  water,  for 
which  I  am  none  the  better  at  this  writing. 

"  Ever  yours, 

^'S.  B. 
"  Monday,  5  p.m.'' 

On  November  9th  Edmund  Yates  charges  him  with 
copying  a  line  in  '*  Table  Talk  "  from  one  of  his  books. 

*'  Utterly  unaware  thereof,"  he  writes,  ''  the  idea  is  too 
common  to  be  anybody's.  Answered  him  with  a 
fictitious  quotation  from  a  burlesque,  older,  of  course, 
than  his  book.     Wonder  whether  he'll  be  sold  !  " 

On  November  17th  he  revisits  Oswestry  which,  as  we 
have  seen,  always  held  a  warm  place  in  his  affections, 
to  lecture  in  aid  of  the  Institute.  He  was  full  of  gout 
and  *'  could  wear  an  old  shoe  only  "  on  the  journey. 

*  The  series  continued  until  Feb.  10,  1866,  when  ParUament  met 
and  "  The  Essence  '*  took  its  place. 

274 


LECTURES  AT  OSWESTRY 

But  he  was  determined  not  to  disappoint  his  old 
friends,  and  was  well  rewarded  for  his  pains.  ''  Hall 
seats  750/'  says  his  diary,  *'  but  there  were  800,  and 
all  sorts  of  Church  folk  and  swells  who  don't  ever  come 
to  this  Hall,  because  it  had  a  Dissenting  origin.  Two 
M.P.'s.  I  felt  that  I  might  be  ill,  and  perhaps  took 
extra  pains,  but  never  gave  the  lecture  more  steadily. 
...  A  little  old  thing  came  up  laughing  to  '  shake 
hands  for  the  sake  of  old  times.'  ...  I  had,  of  course, 
forgotten  her,  but  she  was  a  girl  when  I  was  a  boy  at 
O.,  and  my  aunt  M.,  I  remember,  told  me  not  to  fall 
in  love  with  her — whereof  there  was  no  danger,  by 
reason  of  her  ugliness." 

And  the  next  day  : — 

''  I  find  I  have  cleared  off  their  debt,  so  that  my  visit 
answers  its  purpose.  And  I  may  say  to  myself  that 
he  who  left  Oswestry  rather  as  a  wild  kind  of  young 
fellow,  thought  to  be  loose,  is  not  exactly  sorry  to  go 
back,  find  all  walls  for  miles  round  placarded  with  his 
name,  and  that  name  drawing  all  the  intense  respect- 
ability of  the  region.  This  is  not  vanity,  but  a  grateful 
recognition  of  the  turn  of  events." 

Towards  the  end  of  this  year  Mr.  Frith  became  for 
the  first  time  a  grandfather,  and  Shirley  wrote  : — 

S.  B.  TO  Mr.  Frith,  R.A. 

"  '  Punch  '  Office, 

"  Nov.  2lst,  1865. 

**  Frith,  even  Grandfather  Frith, 

'*  With  my  whole  soul  do  I  congratulate  thee  and 
the  grandmamma,  and  the  venerable  Aunt  Sissy,  and 
all  the  small  uncles  and  infinitesimal  aunts,  or  emmets. 
But  chiefly  I  congratulate  thee,  O  reverent  and  reverend, 
for  the  opportunity  now  afforded  thee  for  the  mending 
of  thy  ways.     Henceforth  we  look  for  no  frivolity  from 

275 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

thee,  no  unseemly  gibes  and  jests  to  which  thou  alone 
addest  *  That's  good/  and  echo  is  silent.  Henceforth 
thou  must  study  to  live  at  peace  with  all  men,  as 

becomes  white  hairs,  and  let  us  hear  no  more  when 

announceth  his  '  last  exhibition '  that  thou  didst  hope 
it  would  begin  at  three  minutes  to  eight  a.m.,  and  be  at 
Newgate.  Truly  this  is  a  great  chance  for  thee,  O  man 
of  palettes,  and  aerial  perspectives,  and  conscientious 
work,  such  as  the  Athenceum  loves  to  indicate  with  the 
gesture  called  '  taking  a  sight.'  Learn  psalms  and 
hymns  and  spiritual  songs,  to  be  chanted  unto  thy 
grandchild,  and  endeavour  to  obtain  some  knowledge 
of  geography,  etymology,  tintacks,  and  prosody,  that 
thou  mayest  not  be  put  utterly  to  shame  when  the  child 
shall  demand  information  of  thee.  Leave  off  smoking, 
yet  keep  a  box  for  thy  younger  friends  who  are  not 
grandfathers.  Scoff  not  at  architects,  for  where 
wouldst  thou  be  but  for  houses  ?  Nay,  art  thou  not 
the  founder  of  a  house  ?  Look  no  longer  at  the  ankles 
of  the  other  sex,  save  in  the  way  of  thy  calling,  and 
speak  no  soft  words  unto  the  maidens,  saying,  *  Lo, 
I  adore  thee,'  when  thou  dost  nothing  of  the  kind. 

Abjure  the  society  of  low  Bohemians  like and , 

but  cultivate  the  honest  and  virtuous,  like  Brooks,  and, 
in  so  far  as  thou  mayest,  imitate  him.  Do  not  eat  too 
much  ham  at  breakfast,  for  temperance  becometh  the 
aged.  Read  few  novels,  but  let  those  thou  readest  be 
of  the  best,  as  *  Broken  to  Harness,'  '  The  Silver  Cord,' 
'  An  Artist's  Proof,'  and  '  Blount  Tempest.'  Likewise, 
begin  to  dress  less  jauntily,  and  wear  a  high  waistcoat 
like  the  Right  Reverend  Bellew,  and  the  Right 
Reverend  Brooks.  When  thou  goest  to  the  Academy 
dinner,  avoid,  so  far  as  thou  canst,  the  taking  too  much 
wine,  for  what  thing  is  less  dignified  than  a  swipey 
grandfather  ?  Cherish  these  counsels  in  the  apple  of 
thine  eye,  and  in  the  pineapple  of  thy  rum ;    and  be 

276 


EARNINGS 

thankful  that,  at  a  time  of  life  when  other  young  men 
may  not  ungracefully  indulge  in  youthful  levity,  thou 
art  called  to  a  higher  and  a  graver  sphere.  Buy  a  stick 
and  practise  walking  with  it,  bending  thy  back,  and 
not  perking  up  elegantly  when  a  comely  female  passeth 
by.  Have  grave  men  to  thy  feasts,  notably  him  who 
expecteth  the  interview  with  Mrs.  Cottle,  and  to  suffer 
as  he  never  suffered  before.  So  I  greet  thee,  grand- 
father, and  hope  that  thou  wilt  have  many  grandsons 
and  granddaughters,  and  wilt  ask  me  to  the  christening 
of  them  all.  "  S.  B."* 

The  year  ends  with  a  full  account  of  his  earnings, 
which  are  not  without  interest : — 


"  Punch  to  Aug.  20th,  when 
change.     30  weeks 
Ditto  since.     22  weeks 
Illustrated,  salary 
Bristol,  till  stop 
Illustrated  extra,  Palmerston 
Once  a  Week  (Xmas  Story) 
Almanac  f 
Leech  book  . . 
Home  News  . . 
Extra  ditto  . . 
Pocket-Book 


d. 


375  0 

0 

262  10 

0 

163  16 

0 

90  0 

0 

17  17 

0 

10  10 

0 

16  16 

0 

50  0 

0  more 

63  0 

0 

14  14 

0 

15  9 

9 

l\fil9  12    9+ 


*  Vide  Frith's  "  Reminiscences,"  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  277  and  278. 

t  As  a  delicate  attention  on  the  part  of  the  publishers,  special 
copies  of  the  Almanac  were  this  year  printed  upon  linen  in  the 
shape  of  handkerchiefs  and  presented  to  the  staff,  who  had  suffered 
much  from  influenza  !  These  should  now  fetch  considerable  prices 
in  the  sale-room  amongst  collectors  of  literary  curiosities. 

X  In  addition  to  the  above  he  had  this  year  received  ;f400  for  his 
novel,  but  the  work  had  been  done  before. 

277 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

*'  If  my  calculations  are  right,  and  they  must  be 
very  nearly ,  1  have  or  shall  have  received  the  above, 
hard  cash,  for  my  work  in  '65,  which  hard  cash  last  year 
was  only  £821.  This  advance  is  satisfactory,  but, 
D.V.,  we  must  increase  it. 
'*  31st  Dec,  1865." 

So  much  for  the  year  1865  with  its  diary  rescued  from 
the  storehouse  of  Fate.  For  the  next  three  years  the 
diaries  are  to  seek,  and  the  progress  of  Shirley's  life 
must  be  gathered  from  such  of  his  letters  as  have 
survived  and  come  into  my  hands,  and  such  other 
sources  as  are  available. 

In  the  first  he  sends  Mr.  Frith  one  of  those  many 
unusable  curiosities,  which  are  showered  upon  the 
editors  of  humorous  publications  :  — 

S.  B.  TO  Mr.  Frith,  R.A. 

"4.1.  1866. 

"  My  dear  Frith, 

''....  Do  look  at  this  bit  of  Cottleism.  It  is 
sent  to  Punch,  but  of  course  we  can  make  no  use  of  it. 

"  '  DowLiNG. — Dec.  22nd,  at  his  mundane  abode, 
25  Foreland  Street,  off  Exmouth  Street,  Birkenhead, 
the  wife  of  Abraham  John  Dowling,  preacher  of  the 
Gospel,  late  an  un-sentenced  prisoner  in  Chester  Castle 
for  preaching  the  Gospel,  of  a  son  and  heir,  by  the 
mother's  side  (who  is  Elizabeth,  third  and  youngest 
daughter  of  the  late  Captain  William  Williams,  of 
Liverpool  and  Dublin.)  Thanks  be  ascribed  to  the 
name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  man's  only  Saviour, 
blessed  be  His  most  holy  name,  the  suffering  mother 
and  son  have  been  brought  through  the  furnace,  and 
are  both  doing  well — ^bless  the  Lord  :  this  child  making 
the  third  arduous  though  at  length  happy  delivery. 
Hallelujah.     Praise  the  Lord.     Amen  and  Amen.' 

278 


''MEN  AND  MARASCHINO'' 

*'  I  hope  that  Mrs.  Frith  was  not  permanently  the 
worse  for  her  kindly  coming  to  us  on  the  Eve.  We 
heard  that  it  had  knocked  her  up  a  little,  but  trust  this 
result  was  temporary  only. 

"  The  Lush  and  Shee  joke  was  sent  to  Lemon  by 
three  different  people  a  fortnight  ago  and  more.  I  am 
sorry  that  he  did  not  use  it — for  it  is  very  good.  What 
I  thought  you  were  going  to  mention  was  the  Duchess 
of  Something's  response  to  '  Wine  and  Women/ 
*  Men  and  Maraschino.' 

*'  Ever  yours, 

S.  B.  TO  Mrs.  Frith. 

*' '  Punch  '  Office, 

"  27  BouvERiE  Street. 
''  My  dear  Mrs.  Frith, 

**  This  has  just  been  sent ;    it  is  a  report  of  a 
meeting  of  a  Manchester  Board. 

''  '  The  other  business  was  entirely  routine,  except 
that  the  clerk  (Mr.  John  Harrop)  amused  the  Board 
by  reading  the  following  letter,  as  a  curiosity,  in  its 
hterary,  no  less  than  in  its  social  aspect  : — 

"  February  2nd,  1866. 

"  Would  you  be  so  kind  &  obliging  as  to  Look  in 
the  House  for  me  if  there  be  a  child  newly  Born,  or  is 
going  to  be  born  Soon  to  be  parted  with  as  one  of  our 
own  but  not  with  red  hair  it  will  have  A  good  home  & 
Learning.  I  should  be  very  glad  if  you  could  supply 
me  with  one  soon  i  could  like  it  about  A  fortnight  old 
or  under  a  Month  old  i  have  been  married  about  ten 
years.  Now  I  think  we  shall  Not  have  any  of  our  own, 
and  if  you  can  supply  me  with  one  you  will  do  a  kind- 
ness And  send  me  word  and  I  will  come  for  it  in  a  week 
or  a  fortnight  after  i  have  a  comfortable  home  and  stays 
at  home  regilar  dressmaker  And  your  nothing  to  fear 

279 


SHIRLEY   BROOKS 

about  me  bringing  it  back  for  if  I  get  a  fine  baby  I  keep 
it  but  I  want  so  young  so  that  I  can  bring  it  up  my  own 
way  and  that  people  wont  know  but  why  it  is  our  own 
for  I  will  go  off  for  about  a  week  or  a  fortnight  before 
I  come  for  it  so  that  they  wont  know."  ' 

"  I  think  you  will  have  a  laugh.  I  hope  that  you 
are  rapidly  recovering  from  the  trouble,  which  it  was 
so  sad  to  see  you  undergoing,  while  trying  to  make  us 
all  enjoy  ourselves. 

''  Ever  affectly., 

''  Shirley  Brooks.'' 

This  year,  I  learn  from  an  article  by  Mr.  William 
Archer  in  the  Tribune,  Shirley  gave  evidence  before 
the  select  committee  of  the  House  of  Commons  which 
was  enquiring  into  the  functions  of  the  Censor  of  Plays. 
His  suggestion  was  that  that  official  should  be  con- 
verted into  a  sort  of  theatrical  public-prosecutor, 
empowered  to  suspend  a  representation  on  the  properly 
authenticated  complaint  of  a  certain  number  of 
responsible  persons,  until  its  merits  or  demerits  should 
be  determined  by  a  court  or  committee  constituted  to 
that  end.  The  suggestion  seems  sensible  enough,  and, 
I  agree  with  Mr.  Archer,  might,  with  some  modifica- 
tions, be  made  workable  and  certainly  more  satisfactory 
than  the  present  antiquated  procedure.  But  the 
matter  is  one  which  cannot  be  dealt  with  at  large 
in  these  pages.  Those  who  are  interested  in  the 
subject  should  read  the  history  of  the  events  which  led 
up  to  the  statutory  establishment  of  the  Censorship,  as 
set  forth  in  Mr.  Watson  Nicholson's  paiinstaking  book, 
'*  The  Struggle  for  a  Free  Stage  in  London." 

It  was  about  this  time  that  Charles  F.  Browne, 

280 


ARTEMUS  WARD 

better  known  as  Artemus  Ward,  made  his  few  con- 
tributions to  Punchy  to  the  first  of  which  allusion  is 
made  in  the  following  letter.  He  was  already  much 
broken  in  health,  and  died  at  Southampton  on  March 
6th  of  the  following  year.  He  was  one  of  the  eighteen 
guests  at  Shirley's  hospitable  board  on  New  Year'sEve, 
1866,  and,  though  he  had  never  set  eyes  on  his  host 
before,  was  put  up  to  propose  his  health.  He  proved 
himself  equal  to  the  occasion. 

Fixing  his  eye  on  a  distant  corner  of  the  room  and 
speaking  with  exaggerated  seriousness  as  was  his  wont, 
he  said,  with  his  peculiar  American  drawl,  that  he 
supposed  that  he,  who  had  no  knowledge  of  Shirley 
Brooks  whatever,  had  been  put  up  to  propose  his 
health  for  that  very  reason,  presumably  because  anyone 
who  did  know  him  wouldn't  have  a  good  word  to  say 
for  him.  He  then  went  on  to  eulogize  his  host,  drawing 
wholly  upon  his  imagination  for  his  many  virtues,  and 
finally  sat  down  amidst  a  roar  of  applause  and  laughter. 

S.  B.  TO  Percival  Leigh. 

"  Monday. 

"  My  dear  Professor, 

"  Thanks  for  your  letter.  Enjoy  yourself,  and  be 
thankful  that  you  are  out  of  this  infernal  city,  and  its 
paint-pots.  We  were  rather  choked  with  copy  this 
week,  owing  to  Artemus  Ward  opening  with  us,  and 
one  or  two  other  things  that  would  not  keep,  so  that 
some  of  your  contributions  stand  over,  but  we  shall 
want  them  '  in  our  next.'  I  don't  know  whether  you 
will  like  to  look  over  your  proofs  again,  but  it  just 
occurs  to  me  that  the  excellent  verses  on  Bribery 
would  be  the  better  for  another  glance.     I  canH  get 

281 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

at  the  metre  of  the  opening  hne  ;  is  there  a  syllable  too 
many  ?  Stacey*  will  send  it  you,  anyhow,  but  don't 
alter  it  if  you  are  satisfied. 

''  Yesterday  we  joined  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fred  Evans  at 
Windsor,  and  after  service  in  the  chapel  (I  was  in  the 
organ-loft,  so  worshipped  in  room  and  comfort,  despis- 
ing the  hot  crowd  below),  we  had  a  carriage  and  two 
horses,  went  about  the  Park,  and  to  Virginia  Water, 
lunched  at  the  ^  Wheatsheaf,'  and  dined  at  the  ^  White 
Hart'  in  Windsor.  Home  by  10.50.  A  well-spent 
Sabbath,  I  think. 

''  I  will  remember  the  young  ladies  and  the  crests  ; 
when  my  boys  come  back  I  shall  be  able  to  do  some- 
thing, as  they  were  collectors,  but  have  taken  to  more 
athletic  amusements. 

**  It  is  really  lovely  weather,  which  makes  London 
all  the  more  beastly  to 

'*  Yours  ever, 

'*S.  B." 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  above  that  Leigh's  contribu- 
tions were  crowded  out  to  make  room  for  those  of 
Artemus  Ward.  This  probably  was  the  reason  rather 
than  the  excuse  at  that  time,  but  later  on,  as  Mr. 
Spielmann  touchingly  puts  it,  ''  the  decay  of  nature 
robbed  him  of  his  value  as  a  member  of  the  staff. 
Then  came  an  example  of  the  kindliness  of  spirit  that 
has  animated  for  so  long  the  little  coterie  of  humorists 
of  Bouverie  Street  and  the  generosity  of  the  men  for 
whom  they  work.  For  a  long  while  before  his  death 
'  the  Professor's '  copy  had  been  practically  useless 
to  the  Editor,  yet  everything  was  done  to  spare  him 
the  pain  of  rejection.     At  first  Mr.  Burnand  or  Mr. 

*  The  head  printer. 

282 


''PROFESSOR"   LEIGH 

Arthur  a  Beckett  would  re-write  the  paragraphs,  and 
Leigh's  dehght  when  they  were  printed  was  sad  to  see. 
But  soon  it  was  impossible  to  conceal  the  fact  that  they 
were  utterly  useless,  and  so  for  some  years  it  was  the 
practice  to  set  his  '  copy  '  up  in  type  and  to  send  him 
proofs,  which  he  duly  corrected  and  returned.  But 
they  never  appeared  in  the  paper,  nor  was  ever  question 
asked  nor  explanation  offered.  Did  the  old  gentleman 
forget  all  about  them  ?  Or  was  he  hoping  against  hope 
that  some  day  room  might  again  be  found  for  him  in 
the  pages  to  which  he  had  contributed  with  so  much 
applause  ?  Or  did  he  appreciate  the  real  motive  and 
kindly  feeling  of  the  proprietors,  who,  though  they 
could  not  use  his  work,  actually  increased  his  salary  ? 
Whatever  the  cause,  '  the  Professor '  to  the  last 
maintained  a  pathetic  silence." 

In  June  of  this  year  Mr,  Punch  presented  to  the  world 
his  Fiftieth  Volume,  and  the  Punch  staff,  to  mark  the 
occasion,  presented  their  beloved  editor,  Mark  Lemon, 
with  a  watch,  and  a  chain  of  eleven  golden  links  to 
denote  their  golden  number.  In  return  he  entertained 
the  staff  at  a  luncheon  at  Burnham  Beeches,  and  made 
the  following  speech  about  the  *'  Brotherhood  of 
Punch  "  ;— * 

'*  My  friends,  you  have  lightened  my  labour  by  your 
readiness  at  all  times  to  help  me  all  you  can.  We 
have  never  had  a  serious  dispute.  And  in  our  so 
working  together,  proprietors  and  contributors,  lies 
the  secret  of  our  great  success.  I  received  a  pound 
a  week  at  first  for  editing,  but,  as  the  success  increased, 

*  From  Mr.  Henry  Silver's  notes. 

283 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

my  salary  increased.  Our  Brotherhood  shows  that, 
irritable  as  authors  may  be  called,  they  yet  can  work 
together,  if  joined  by  real  friendship  and  working  for 
a  good  end.  And  Punch  has  worked  for  a  good  end, 
and  done  really  a  great  good.  Shirley's  admirable 
preface  is  not  over-praise.  Punch  has  blotted  out  the 
Age  and  the  Satirist,  and  other  vile  publications 
which,  before  Punch  existed,  were  the  only  amusing 
journals  of  the  day.'' 

To  the  list  of  vile  publications  which  Punch  had 
blotted  out  Mark  Lemon  might  have  added  one 
entitled  Hell's  News,  which  promised  to  report  the 
fashionable  doings  there,  and  particularly  to  give  a  list 
of  the  "  latest  arrivals  "  ! 

*'  I  suppose,"  said  Shirley  one  day,  ''  it  was  chiefly 
penned  by  printers'  devils,  but  where  the  deuce  they 
could  expect  to  find  a  publisher  I  can't  think,  unless  it 
were  in  Fiendland  !  "  * 

Shirley's  ''  Preface "  referred  to  by  Mark  Lemon 
was  a  very  happy  effort  and  was  surmounted  by  a 
briUiant  drawing  by  Charles  Keene,  of  Mr.  Punch  in 
evening  dress  surrounded  by  the  most  prominent 
personages  of  the  day  :  Tennyson,  Millais,  Bright, 
Kingsley,  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  others, 
all  excellent  likenesses.  Punch  is  on  his  legs  replying 
to  the  toast  of  our  present  gracious  King,  then  a  sHm 
and  beardless  stripling,  who  is  seated  on  his  right. 

In  the  evening  the  Staff  dined  at  Maidenhead  with 
the  proprietors,  who  presented  the  Editor  with  a  great 
silver  cup.  Then  the  Staff  were  toasted  (and  buttered) 
in  their  turn,  and  Shirley  replied  on  their  behalf. 

*  Presumably  "  Finland." 

284 


MISS  FURTARDO 

''  We  really  are,  you  know,  rather  a  Remarkable 
Lot/'  he  began,  and  he  concluded,  *'  as  for  myself, 
I  have  given  Punch  my  best  work,  and  I  never  enjoy 
writing  so  much  as  for  Punch.  I  was  at  Margate 
fifteen  years  ago,  when  Mark  asked  me  to  join.  I 
began  with  '  Miss  Violet,'  and  have  rarely  let  a  number 
pass  without  an  article  of  mine.  I  am  the  connecting 
link  between  the  old  men  and  the  new,  and  it  will  ever 
be  my  pride  and  pleasure  to  be  with  the  men  of  Punchy* 

In  September  it  had  been  suggested  that  the  Friths 
and  Brookses  should  again  make  holiday  together,  and 
Shirley  wrote  : — 

S.  B.  TO  Mrs.  Frith. 

"  '  Punch  '  Office, 

"  BouvERiE  Street, 

"  Sept.  1st,  1866. 
"  I  send  my  dear  Mrs.  Frith  a  few  lines  to  thank 
her  very  kindly  and  sincerely,  but  it  must  be  Boulogne- 
upon-the-Sea.  I  have  to  work  for  du  Maurier,  and  we 
must  be  together.  Another  year  I  hope  we  may  make 
holiday  together — that  is,  if  I  am  not  divorced  in  the 
meantime.  The  fact  is  we  went  to  the  Adelphi  last 
night,  and  had  a  box  close  to  the  stage. 
''  Miss  Furtardo  !  !  ! 

''  But  I  draw  a  veil  over  the  scene.  It  was  not  my 
fault.  I  am  susceptible.  I  have  a  large  heart.  I 
submit,  perhaps,  too  easily,  to  fascinations. 

*'  There  is  no  open  quarrel  yet.     It  may  be  averted. 
"  But  the  truce  can  only  be  oiler.     I  have  met  my 
Fate.     Think  kindly  of  me  if  you  can. 

''  I  am  going  to  try  whether  partridges  and  cham- 
pagne will  act  as  oil  upon  the  troubled  waters.  I  fear 
it  will  be  only  oil  of  vitriol. 

*  From  Mr.  Silver's  notes. 

285 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS  ; 

"  Again  I  say,  think  kindly  of  me. 

"  It  was  HER  fault  that  we  got  a  box,  mind  that. 

*'  It  was  also  her  fault  that  we  stayed  to  see  '  Helen.' 
I  wanted  to  go  home  and  smoke. 

"  But  recriminations  are  idle.  It  was  Fate — 
'  Kismet/  as  the  Orientals  say.  I  have  forgiven  my 
wife  for  being  less  attractive  than  Miss  Furtardo.  Can 
man  do  more  ?  Can  woman  ?  Again  I  say,  think 
kindly  of  the  enamoured  and  remorseful 

"  Shirley."* 

The  channel  boat  joke  recorded  in  the  following 
letter  was  afterwards,  I  think,  illustrated  for  Punch 
by  du  Maurier.  The  signature  refers  to  the  fact  that 
Shirley  stood  godfather  to  Mrs.  Frith* s  youngest 
daughter,  who  was  christened  *'  Evelyn  Shirley,*'  and 
died  the  following  year. 

S.  B.  TO  Mrs.  Frith. 

"  Bedford  Hotel, 

"  CovENT  Garden, 
"  Sept  22nd,  1866. 

"  My  dear  Mrs.  Frith, 

''  Thank  you  very  much  for  the  kind  invitation 
for  Wednesday,  of  which,  if  I  am  in  England  on  that 
day,  I  will  gladly  avail  myself,  but  there  seems  to  be 
a  muddle  between  Paris  and  Dieppe,  and  I  may  have 
to  run  over  previously.  Do  not,  therefore,  make  any 
extensive  preparations  for  me — a  Httle  turtle,  some 
venison  cutlets,  an  omelette  (herb),  some  meringues 
and  some  of  the  best  Burgundy  will  amply  suffice  my 
modest  requirements,  and  if  I  do  not  come  Frith  may 
eat  my  share,  and  drink  his  own.    Seriatim,  however  (as 

*  Vide  Frith's  "  Reminiscences,"  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  387-8. 

286 


''SHOTTEN   HERRING" 

Joe  Hume  used  to  say,  meaning  '  seriously  '),  I  hope  to 
be  with  you,  and  welcome  you  home  to  London.  The 
weather  is  simply  beastly.  The  du  Mauriers  returned 
on  Thursday,  having  had  a  good  voyage. 

''  I  heard  from  my  wife  to-day,  she  complains  of  the 
excessive  dullness  of  Paris,  which  I  rather  hope  she 
leaves  to-day  :  the  longer  I  live,  the  more  I  am 
convinced  that  the  British  practice  of  leaving  a  com- 
fortable home,  for  a  series  of  uncomfortable  ones,  is  a 
piece  of  idiotcy,  but  we  shall  go  on  doing  it  till  the  end 
of  the  chapter. 

''  I  have  nothing  else  to  tell  you  except  an  epigram- 
matic remark  made  by  an  Englishman  as  we  were 
crossing  in  the  boat.  When  we  w^ere  about  half-way 
over  he  suddenly  saw  a  friend  on  board.  '  Ah  !  '  he 
said,  '  you  !  '  Then,  inspired  by  a  happy  thought, 
he  added,  '  Are  you  going  across  ?  '  which,  as  we  were 
in  the  middle  of  the  voyage,  seemed  probable,  as  there 
are  no  islands  to  touch  at.  But  it  did  as  well  as 
anything  else,  and  the  other  man  was  worthy  of  it,  for 
he  said,  'Well,  I  think  so.'  N.B.— Neither  has 
capacity  for  the  smallest  chaff — it  was  bond  fide. 

''  That  Dr.  P.*  did  not  poison  the  artist,  that  is  clear, 
but  I  think  he  behaved  very  badly.  I  suppose  his 
mind  was  demoralized  from  associating  with  artists. 
I  am  glad  the  Jew  that  hung  the  child  in  the  cellar  is 
going  to  be  [^  himself,  but  I  trust  the  rope  will 
break  so  that  he  may  have  a  double  dose. 

''  '  Shooting  '  at  Bournemouth — what  did  the  Wretch 
go  out  to  shoot  ?— herrings  ?  Now  then,  when  he  has 
done  deriding  the  suggestion  as  nonsensical,  perhaps 
he  will  remember  that  Shakespeare  (if  he  ever  heard 
of  him),  talks  of  a  '  shotten  herring.'     Now  then. 

*  Dr.  E.  W.  Pritchard,  who  poisoned  his  wife  and  mother-in-law 
with  antimony,  and  was  executed  this  year. 

287 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

*'  But  I  will  not  longer  detain  you  from  your  religious 
duties,  for  this  should  reach  you  on  Sunday  morning, 
and  it  is  not  for  a  godfather  to  treat  such  things  lightly. 
"  Ever  Shirley's  affectionate 

"  S.P.O.N.S.O.R. 
"  Love  to  the  Portrait  Painter/' 

This  year  the  commission  was  sitting  to  enquire  into 
the  case  of  Governor  Eyre.  The  country  was  divided 
into  two  antagonistic  parties,  the  one,  headed  by 
Carlyle,  holding  that  **  by  his  prompt  action  he  had 
saved  the  white  population,"  the  other,  by  John 
Stuart  Mill,  that  he  was  little  better  than  a  fiend  in 
human  shape.  Punch  sided  with  the  Governor,  and 
Shirley  was  turned  on  to  express  his  sentiments  in 
*'  The  Bold  Governor  Eyre  and  the  Bulls  of  Exeter 
Hall."     I  have  space  for  but  two  verses  : — 

"  The  victim,  just  now,  of  its  blatter  and  blare, 
Is  a  brave  British  gentleman,  Governor  Eyre, 
Who,  for  saving  Jamaica  with  powder  and  ball. 
Has  roused  all  the  maHce  of  Exeter  Hall. 

*  *  * 

"  But  if,  when  the  tale  of  Jamaica  is  told, 
The  Queen  gives  her  thanks  to  the  Governor  bold. 
What  a  bellow  will  burst  from  the  favourite  stall 
Of  the  big  bulls  of  Bashan  in  Exeter  Hall." 

As  we  know,  Governor  Eyre,  so  far  from  receiving  his 
Sovereign's  thanks,  received  his  conge ,  and  the  big  bulls 
of  Bashan  were  saved  the  trouble  of  bellowing. 

The  holiday  of  this  year  was  spent  in  France,  whence 
he  wrote  : — 

288 


AT  BOULOGNE 

S.  B.  TO  Mr.  F.  Evans. 

"  No.  39  Hotel  Folkestone, 

"  BOULOGNE-S.-M., 

"  Monday,  Sept.  10th,  1866. 

"  My  dear  Fred, 

"  Just  a  line  to  say  que  nous  sommes  id.  The 
loveliest  passage  on  Sunday  I  ever  had — then  a  concert 
— and  finally  a  ball,  this  not  being  a  Christian  country, 
as  you  know.  Of  course,  we  see  the  du  Mauriers 
constantly.  Neither  is  looking  at  all  well,  but  they 
appear  to  have  got  over  all  terrors.  The  English  have 
rushed  away  in  loads,  but  there  are  still  enough  to  take 
the  place  by  a  general  insurrection,  only  it  must  be 
before  dinner.  Afterwards  they  would  be  over- 
powered and  good-natured.  I  do  not  know,  as  yet, 
whether  we  shall  *  conclude  '  to  stay  here  any  time. 
Du  Maurier  proposes  to  leave  on  Friday  week.  I 
merely  write  to  give  you  my  address,  and  I  shall  be 
glad  to  hear — and  specially  of  an  occasional  evening 
paper.     Kindest  regards  to  the  Firm  and  the  Oblong. 

''  Ever, 

"  S.  Brooks.^' 

S.  B.  TO  Mr.  Frith,  R.A. 

"  Wednesday,  Sept.  I9th,  1866. 

*'  Shegog  the  Faithful  informs  Cottle  the  Fair  that 
I  have  come  over  to  the  United  Kingdom  alone.  My 
wife  is  gone  on  to  Paris,  whence  on  Friday  proxo.  she 
will  advance  on  Dieppe,  with  Mrs.  and  Miss  Jerrold. 
There  I  shall,  I  think,  join  her  next  week.  In  the 
meantime  I  reside  at  the  Bedford  Hotel,  Covent  Garden, 
London.  N.B. — Copy  the  address.  N.B. — No.  2. 
D —  the  painters.  I  allude  to  the  House  Painters,  not 
Grant  and  Co.,  of  Trafalgar  Square  (at  present,  ha !  ha!) 

'*  What  are  you  doing,  how  are  you  doing,  and  how 
do  you  like  it  ?     We  did  not  very  much  enjoy  Boulogne, 

289 

20 — (2297) 


SHIRLEY   BROOKS 

I  think.  The  weather  was  bad,  so  were  the  smells,  and 
the  cholera  was  raging.  With  these  drawbacks  and 
the  infernal  row,  which  prevented  our  sleeping  a  wink 
during  the  whole  time  we  were  there,  8  days,  there  was 
not  much  to  complain  of,  but  still  I  think  that  we  did 
not  much  enjoy  Boulogne.  We  went  to  several  balls, 
at  two  of  which  our  party,  5,  formed  the  majority  of 
the  revellers.  We  ate  many  shrimps.  We  looked  out 
at  the  window  a  great  deal.  These  were  our  chief 
excitements,  but  a  contented  mind  is  a  continual  feast. 

''  London  is  dull.  I  went  into  the  Club  yesterday, 
and  found  4  men  grumbling  in  the  garret.  I  went  in 
again  at  night,  and  found  5  men  sleeping  in  the  smoke 
room. 

''  At  Boulogne  I  was  introduced  to  Mr.  G.  I  reserve 
remarks  until  I  know  whether  he  is  your  bosom  friend 
or  not.  He  is  not  a  good  sailor.  He  dresses  with 
neatness.  His  wife  wears  curls.  These  remarks 
cannot  offend  you,  even  if  you  wear  him  in  your  heart 
of  hearts,  '  as  I  do  thee.* 

"  *  A  moral,  sensible,  and  well-bred  man 
Will  not  insult  me — and  no  other  can' 

Cowper. 

''  If  you  do  not  see  the  bearing  of  this  quotation 
upon  the  preceding  passage,  telegraph  to  say  so,  and 
wait  my  reply. 

"  I  await  yours,  and  with  homage  to  Madame, 
"Am 

"  Your  respectful  friend, 

''  Shegog. 

''  P.S. — You  are  going  to  ask  me  why  there  is  no 
Artemus  Ward  in  to-day's  P.P.  I  am  going  to  reply 
that  I  believe  he  sent  in  a  contribution  on  some  topic 
which  Mark  the  Large  thought  would  not  be  acceptable 
to  the  B.P.     I  have  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the 

290 


QUAINT  ADVERTISEMENTS 

series  will  be  discontinued.     But  I  don't  know,  and 
I  don't  care,  which  is  more. 

*'  I  suppose  you  had  not  the  delicacy  to  write  to  me 
to  Boulogne.  If  you  have  had  it,  the  letter  will  be 
brought  over  by  Geo.  Busson  du  Maurier,  who  leaves 
at  XII  to-night,  with  all  his  family,  coming  all  the 
way  by  the  boat  which  took  36  hours  on  her  Monday 
voyage,  roosting  in  Margate  Roads. 

''  Send  the  first  of  these  advts.  to  Austin,*  the  place 
may  suit  him.  I  have  myself  applied  for  the  second, 
and  the  answer  was  unfit  for  publication. 

'*  1.  '  Wanted,  an  honest  sober  man,  to  wear  the 
Advertising  Coat.    To  a  suitable  person  liberal 
wages  given  ;   height  not  less  than  8  ft.  9  in. 
Address  Woodruff,  Post  Office,  Sheffield. 
"2.  'A  Lady  deprived  of  a  chaperon,  wishes  a 
Disengaged  Gentleman  about  30,  as  escort  to 
a  place  of  amusement.     Address  B.  G.,  Post 
Office,  Sale.' 
"  If  you  have  come  to  town,  let  me  know,  and  I  will 
come  and  dine  with  you.     Do  not,  however,  come  up 
with  the  family  on  purpose  !  " 

In  October  he  had  rejoined  Mrs.  Brooks  in  France. 

S.  B.  TO  Mr.  Frith,  R.A. 
"  Hotel  des  Bains, 

{Bains  is  the  French  for  bath,  but 
there  are  none  in  the  house)      • 
"  Dieppe,  Normandy, 
"  France, 
"  Monday,  Oct.  8th,  1866. 

"  My  dear  Cottle, 

''  1  write  because  I  said  I  would  write,  and  to  keep 
his  promises  is  the  folly  of  civilized  man — ^the  savages 
know  better. 

*  The  present  poet-laureate. 

291 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

"  Id  we  sommeSy  but  ici  we  shall  not  etre,  I  suppose, 
when  this  letter  is  delivered,  as  we  propose  to  go  home 
in  a  day  or  two.  Not  that  I  wish  to  go,  for  the  place 
is  delightful,  and  the  weather  heavenly,  but  business 
is  business,  and  not  pleasure,  and  to  attend  to  business 
is  the  folly  of  civilized  man — savages  know  better. 

"  I  wish  with  all  my  cceur  that  you  were  here  ;  you 
would  thoroughly  enjoy  it.  If  you  want  to  be  active, 
there  are  the  loveliest  walks,  and  hills,  and  ruins ; 
and  if  you  wish  to  be  idle  (which  I  generally  do),  there 
is  a  glorious  sea,  with  a  huge  grass  place — '  La  Plage  ' — 
before  it,  and  we  look  upon  that.  The  season  is  quite 
over,  and  so  much  the  better  says  Shegog,  who  does 
not  habitually  dress  three  times  per  day,  as  is  Parisian 
custom  here.  Very  good  living,  and  I  have  drunk  to 
you  frequently  in  Burgundy,  and  brought  my  spirits 
to  Burgundy  pitch,  which  you  will  not  confound  with 
the  stuff  used  for  fastening  ships  together — I  don*t 
mean  two  ships  together,  but  the  planks  of  one. 

"  Henry  the  Quatre  gained  the  battle  of  Ivry  here, 
and  the  Dieppois  are  still  celebrated  for  their  carving 
in  ivory.  I  have  enjoyed  myself  severely,  and  I  can 
confidently  recommend  Dieppe.  To  be  sure,  I  have  not 
yet  paid  my  bill,  but  as  my  landlord  says  that  a  cheque 
will  do  perfectly  well,  I  consider  that  matter  as  off 
everybody's  mind. 

"  The  Catholic  reUgion  is  established  here,  but 
Protestantism  is  tolerated,  or  I  would  not  have  re- 
mained a  day.  We  English  show  our  religion  on 
Sundays  by  wearing  hats  instead  of  wide-awakes,  and 
smoking  at  the  windows  instead  of  in  the  garden  before 
the  house.  It  is  gratifying  to  see  such  evidences  of 
Christianity  in  a  foreign  land. 

''  The  posts  are  the  devil  here,  and  it  is  a  bore.  All 
letters  go  to  Paris,  and  though  one  is  but  sixty  miles 
from  England,  you  won't  have  this  till  Wednesday, 

292 


C.  H.  BENNETT  AND  HIS  HAIR 

I  believe  ;  but  as  you  are  not  standing  at  the  door 
waiting  for  it,  you  may  not  feel  the  delay  so  keenly  as 
you  otherwise  would  have  done.  The  missis  is  now 
eager  to  get  home — pardonable  ambition  in  a  mere  de 
famille — but  I  am  not  impatient,  and  should  like  to  stay 
another  fortnight.  Mrs.  Milner-Gibson  is  here,  and 
we  have  been  for  an  excursion  with  her  to  Arques, 
where  is  an  awfully  fine  old  ruined  castle,  built  by 
William  the  Bastard,  conqueror  of  you  Anglais.  There 
are  some  pleasant  travellers  at  our  hotel,  and  we  lie 
to  one  another  over  our  cigars  about  the  Marquises 
and  Royal  Academicians  whom  we  say  we  know. 
The  fllles  de  chambre  are  rather  to  be  respected  than 
admired.  The  beds  are  good,  but  have  those  springs 
which  squeal  out  every  time  one  moves  a  limb. 

**  I  have  heard  from  nobody  here,  which  is  the  more 
singular  as  I  gave  nobody  my  address.  I  have  not 
improved  my  mind  here  in  the  least,  and  my  diary 
would  (if  kept)  resemble  the  young  fellow's  letter  to  his 
father  from  Italy  :  *  The  Alps  is  a  very  high  mountain, 
and  bullocks  fetches  no  prices  at  aU.'  *  Dieppe  is  a 
sunny  place,  and  cigars  are  2Jd.* 

**  I  beg  kindest,  and,  at  the  same  time,  most  respect- 
ful compliments  to  your  good  lady  (I  allude  to  Mrs. 
Frith)  from  me  and  mine. 

*'  Agreez,  etc., 
"  Shegog,  in  partihus  infidelium.'** 

By  the  end  of  October  he  was  back  in  London,  as 
I  learn  from  a  dehghtful  episode  related  in  Mr. 
Spielmann's  **  History  of  Punch,''  which  he  wiU  forgive 
me  for  quoting  in  full : — 

''  Another  of  Punch's  favourite  sons  was  Charles  H. 
Bennett.     His  life  was  a  hard  yet  a  happy  one,  and 

*  Vide  Frith's  "  Reminiscences,"  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  183-6. 

293 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

his  career  was  short,  though  not  too  short  for  fame  ; 
and  the  last  two  years  during  which  he  sat  at  the 
Table  were  perhaps  the  merriest  of  them  all.  But  his 
attendances,  really  owing  to  the  illness  which  ultimately 
bore  him  down,  were  irregular.  This  irregularity, 
combined  with  his  habit,  then  commoner  even  than 
now  among  artists,  of  wearing  his  hair  very  long, 
brought  him  one  day  a  letter  from  his  friends  and 
fellow-diners  in  the  following  terms  : — 

' "  Punch  *'  Council,  October  24th,  1866. 

'Present : —  Lemon  W.  H.  Bradbury 

Evans  G.  du  Maurier 

Horace  Mayhew  Evans  fils 

Tom  Taylor  S.  Brooks 

Leigh  Tenniel 
'  Resolved  : — 

*  That  this  meeting  deeply  sympathises  with  C.  H. 

Bennett  on  the  state  of  his  hair. 

*  That  this  meeting  appreciates  the  feeling  which 

detains  the  said  Bennett  from  the  Council  until 
his  hair  shall  have  been  cut. 

*  That  this    meeting    deplores    the    impecuniosity 

which  prevents  the  said  Bennett  from  attending 
a  barber. 

*  That  this  meeting,  anxious  to  receive  the  said 

Bennett  to  its  bosom,  once  more  organizes  a 
subscription  to  enable  him  to  attend  the  said 
barber. 
'  That  this  company,  having  (limited)  confidence 
in  Mr.  Mark  Lemon,  entrusts  him  with  the 
following  subscriptions  in  aid  of  the  above 
object,  and  requests  him  to  communicate  with 
the  aforesaid  Bennett  to  the  end  that  he  may 
have  his  d —  hair  cut  and  rejoin  the  assembly 
of  the  brethren. 

294 


PARTING  KICK  TO   1866 


'  (Signed) 


Mark  Lemon 

..  0 

s. 

0 

d. 

Frederick  Evans  . . 

..  0 

0 

Percival  Leigh 
Horace  Mayhew  . . 
Tom  Taylor 
W.  H.  Bradbury  . . 
George  du  Maurier 
F.  M.  Evans 

oooooo 

0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 

Shirley  Brooks 
J .  Tenniel 

..  0 
..  0 

0 
0 

Stamps  enclosed 

..£0 

_0_ 

10' 

^'  And  these  ten  penny  stamps,  together  with  the 
letter,  are  to  this  day  treasured  by  the  artist's  son." 

So  ends  the  record  for  the  year  1866,  a  year  of  which 

Shirley  was  apparently  not  sorry  to  see  the  end,  for  he 

wrote  '*  Our  Parting  Kick  to  1866,'*  beginning  : — 

**  Get  out,  old  year,  get  out,  get  out. 
And  don't  keep  lingering  here  about. 
We  don't  care  whether  you've  got  the  gout. 
Or  what's  the  matter,  but  just  get  out ! 
You  stupid,  sorrowful,  sad  old  year 
You  maundering,  mischievous,  mad  old  year. 
Oh  law,  we're  heartily  glad,  old  year, 
To  enjoy  the  kicking  you  out !  " 

Happily  there  was  still  hope  in  the  future  and  he 

concluded  : — 

"  Come  in,  New  Year,  with  your  hopeful  smile, 
To  end  our  ditty  of  blare  and  bile. 
That  mean  old  cuss  was  enough  to  rile 
An  angel's  temper,  but  you'U  strike  lie. 
You  nice,  no  naughtiness,  neat  new  year, 
You  smiling,  saucy  face,  sweet  new  year. 
Your  look  increases  the  treat,  my  dear. 
Of  kicking  that  old  Cad  out !  " 

295 


CHAPTER  XV 


1867-1868— The  Tomahawk— Death  of  Charles  Bennett— Summer 
HoUdays — Letters  to  Bradbury — Letters  to  Mr.  Frith — 
Ramsgate — Home  News — Letters  to  P.  Leigh  and  Mrs.  George 
— "  Ponny "  Mayhew's  Dinner — Mrs.  Frank  Romer  (Mrs. 
Jopling  Rowe) — Letters  to  P.  Leigh. 

ANY  as  have  been  Punch's 
rivals,  few  have  given 
such  briUiant  promise  as 
the  short -Hved  Toma- F 
hawk,  which  had  its  be-/ 
ginning  in  1867.  Shirley, 
of  course,  had  nothing  to 
do  with  its  publication, 
but  he  was  indirectly 
responsible  for  its  title,* 
One  day  at  the  Punch  Table  conversation 
turned  on  the  Saturday  Review,  which  had 
decreased  greatly  both  in  interest  and  circulation  since 
it  had  given  up  the  vinegar  and  pepper  trade  and  taken 
to  supplying  the  public  with  sugar  plums  and  treacle. 
Shirley  regretted  the  change,  and  said  with  his  usual 
quickness  that  he  had  a  good  mind  to  start  the 
Latterday  Review  to  take  up  the  old  business.  Then  it 
struck  him  that  that  would  be  plagiarising  Carlyle, 
and  he  thought  the  Tomahawk  would  be  a  better  title. 


*  From  Mr.  Silver's  notes. 


296 


THE   ^' TOMAHAWK '^ 

It  should  be  "  wielded  '*  by  a  staff  of  slashing  critics, 
and  its  motto  should  be  **  We'll  always  axe  our  way  !  '' 
Probably  he  repeated  the  joke  elsewhere.  At  any  rate 
the  Tomahawk  immediately  came  into  existence  with 
its  splendid  series  of  cartoons  by  Matt  Morgan,  and 
under  the  editorship  of  one  who  has  since  played  a  large 
part  in  the  history  of  its  great  rival,  one  indeed  who  for 
long  held  the  same  prominent  position  on  the  staff  which 
Shirley  held  during  the  editorship  of  Mark  Lemon. 

On  the  2nd  of  April  of  this  year*  Shirley  received  a 
letter  from  Lemon  announcing  the  untimely  death 
of  their  much-loved  colleague,  Charles  Bennett — ''  A 
man,'*  Shirley  indorsed  on  the  letter,  '*  whom  one 
could  not  help  loving  for  his  gentleness,  and  a  wonder- 
ful artist/'  '*  He  was,'*  he  wrote  in  Punchy  ''  a  very 
able  colleague,  a  very  dear  friend.  None  of  our  fellow- 
workers  ever  entered  more  heartily  into  his  work, 
or  laboured  with  more  earnestness  to  promote  our 
general  purpose.  His  facile  execution  and  singular 
subtilty  of  fancy  were,  we  hoped,  destined  to  enrich 
these  pages  for  many  a  year.  It  has  been  willed 
otherwise,  and  we  lament  the  loss  of  a  comrade  of 
invaluable  skill,  and  the  death  of  one  of  the  kindUest 
and  gentlest  of  our  associates,  the  power  of  whose  hand 
was  equalled  by  the  goodness  of  his  heart.'* 

Bennett  was  but  thirty-seven  when  he  died,  and  the 
fact  that  he  left  a  widow  and  eight  children  afforded 
just  one  of  those  opportunities  which  Punch  and  his 
staff  were  always  ready  to  seize. 

♦  Vide  Everitt's  *'  English  Caricaturists." 

297  


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

*'  We  shall  have  to  do  something,"  wrote  Shirley, 
and  something  to  good  purpose  they  accordingly  did. 
A  committee  was  at  once  formed  and  a  performance 
in  aid  arranged  at  the  Adelphi.  Between  the  two 
parts  of  the  entertainment  Shirley  came  on  and 
delivered  an  address,  written  by  him  for  the  occasion, 
from  which  I  quote  a  few  lines  : — 

"  You  knew  his  power,  his  satire  keen  and  fair, 
And  the  rich  fancy,  served  by  skill  as  rare. 
You  did  not  know,  except  some  friendly  few, 
That  he  was  earnest,  gentle,  patient,  true." 

Amongst  the  performers  was  that  delightful  actress. 
Miss  Kate  Terry,  who  was  just  about  to  be  married  to 
Mr.  Arthur  James  Lewis,  to  which  fact  Shirley  made 
the  following  graceful  and  half-regretful  allusion  : — 

"  Last,  but  not  least,  in  your  dear  love  and  ours 
There  is  a  head  we'd  crown  with  all  our  flowers. 
Our  kindest  thanks  to  her  whose  smallest  grace 
Is  the  bewitchment  of  her  fair  young  face. 
Our  own  Kate  Terry  comes,  to  show  how  much 
The  truest  art  does  with  the  Ughtest  touch. 
Make  much  of  her  while  still  before  your  eyes, 
A  star  may  gUde  away  to  other  skies." 

By  this  performance  and  a  second  given  at  Man- 
chester, together  with  Shirley's  unstinted  labour  to 
the  same  end,  a  large  sum  was  raised  and  handed  to 
the  sorrowing  widow.  It  was  but  one  example  of  the 
spirit  which  has  always  actuated  the  Punch  staff — 
never  to  be  backward  in  succouring  a  stricken  comrade 
and  those  dependent  upon  him. 

The  summer  hoUday  of  this  year  was  spent  in 
England. 

298 


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c       c 

c       <: 


ON  HOLIDAY 

S.  B.  TO  W.  H.  Bradbury. 

"  Rev.  p.  Cudlip's, 

"  Yealhampton, 

"  Devonshire. 
"  Sunday,  Sept.  8th,  1867. 

*'  My  dear  William, 

'*  We  have  been  rambling  from  these  our  head 
quarters,  and  sleeping  away  in  regions  where  the  Times 
is  not  a  power,  though  the  Western  Daily  News  is  one. 
So  I  have  seen  an  interesting  announcement  only  in 
going  through  my  file  this  day.  W^e  are  rejoiced  to 
learn  that  Mrs.  William's  trouble  is  happily  over,  and 
my  wife  begs  to  join  me  in  best  wishes  for  the  speedy 
convalescence  of  the  mamma  and  the  present  and 
future  welfare  of  the  baby.  Perhaps  you  will  kindly 
convey  that  greeting,  and  thereby  make  it  the  more 
acceptable. 

''  This  is  a  glorious  country  and  I  am  delighted  with 
it,  but  it  is  hard  work  to  rest  as  I  am  now  doing,  that  is, 
being  taken  up  and  down  the  most  night-mare-ish  hills, 
at  full  speed,  all  day,  and  indeed  part  of  the  night. 
Ex  pede  Herculem — we  yesterday  did  a  moor,  and  got 
home  at  midnight,  having,  on  the  previous  day  done 
Totnes,  Dartmouth,  Torquay,  and  another  moor. 
But  I  am  very  well,  and  eat  and  sleep  like  Mark  Lemon, 
including  noble  snoring.  He  might  have  sent  me  a  line 
from  the  Council,  an  ungrateful  and  bloated  Kuss. 
We  shall  be  here  a  few  days  longer.  You  won't  get 
this  till  Tuesday,  as  Sunday's  post  goes  out  before  one 
is  well  awake.  Remember  me  to  all  the  friends  who 
gather  for  the  hellish  orgy  on  Wednesday,  and  to  Fred, 
when  you  write,  and  believe  me 

**  Ever  yours  sincerely, 

''  My  dear  W.  H.  B., 

"  Shirley  Brooks. 
*'  W.  H.  Bradbury/' 

299 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

S.  B.  TO  Mr.  Frith,  R.A. 

"  Esplanade, 

"  Penzance, 
"  Saturday,  Sept  21s/,  1867. 

"My  dear  Cottle, 

*'*  Behold  'em  'ere!'  'Ere  is  not  Penzance,  but 
Ilfracombe,  Devonshire.  The  above  represents  feebly 
(I  am  now  critical  in  art,  for  I  have  got  the  very  house 
occupied  last  year  by  Tom  Taylor),  the  stunning  hotel 
at  Penzance  where  we  were  exceedingly  comfortable 
for  some  days,  and  whence  we  made  '  excrescences ' 
to  the  Land's  End  and  other  wonderful  works  of 
nature.  '  It  is  a  holy  thing,'  said  Mr.  Squeers,  '  to  be 
in  a  state  of  nature.' 

''  This  reminds  me  that  we  went  down  a  copper-mine, 
half-a-mile  under  the  sea,  by  a  wire  rope  tied  to  a  car 
about  as  big  as  a  coal-scuttle — a  sensation  ! — ^but  a 
previous  sensation  was  reading  in  the  guide-book, 
*  Before  descending  you  must  divest  yourself  of  every 

article  of  apparel,  and '     Here  I  closed  the  book, 

and  put  it  away  as  S — b — ian,  but  learning  that  you 
could  compromise  by  taking  off  your  coat  and  tucking 
up  your  trowsers,  and  putting  on  a  miner's  dress,  white, 
splashed  with  yellow  mud,  I  reconsidered  the  subject. 
You  should  have  seen  Mrs.  Shirley  in  a  long  white 
thing  like  a  vast  nightgown,  and  with  a  thick  yellow 
dreadnought  !  But  she  did  the  perilous  descent 
gallantly,  commending  her  soul  to  the  supreme  powers, 
and  the  splashes  through  the  crevices  to  the  devil 
(I  believe). 

'*  The  Duke  of  Cornwall,  Plymouth,  is  a  splendid 
new  hotel,  with  all  the  comforts,  and  close  to  the  train. 
We  did  all  the  sights,  including  the  Breakwater,  which 
is  not  worth  doing.  But  the  coast  scenery  of  both 
Cornwall  and  Devon  is  glorious.  Very  likely  I  am 
telling  you  what  you  know,  for  Reynolds  was  born  in 

300 


ILFRACOMBE 

Devonshire,  and  you  might  have  been  born  anywhere 
you  chose.  We  have  done  an  awful  lot,  and  I  am 
glad  to  have  got  to  a  resting-place  for  a  week  in  this 
lovely  place.  We  are  on  the  top  of  a  high  hill,  and 
see  Lundy  Isle,  Wales,  Jerusalem,  and  Madagascar ; 
and  to-day  we  are  going  to  have  squab-pie  and  junket. 

''  From  du  Maurier  I  glean  that  you  are  all  a  happy 
colony,  and  I  hope  to  see  you  after  we  get  back.  At 
Helston  there  were  two  pictures,  regarded  as  household 
treasures.  One  was  *  Coming  of  Age,'  and  the  other 
the  *  Sports  in  the  Olden  Time.'  I  obtained  much 
kudos  by  sa3dng  that  I  knew  the  painter — that  I  had 
stood  for  the  young  heir  ;  and  the  grandad  in  the  other 
was  Spurgeon,  to  whom  I  had  introduced  you  when  you 
persuaded  him  to  sit  to  you.  This  will  become  a 
Cornish  legend.  At  Plymouth  Station  there  is  a  three- 
legged  cat,  and  not  a  Manx  cat  (good),  but  one  whose 
leg  was  cut  off  by  a  railway-engine.  This  is  the  most 
remarkable  thing  I  have  seen,  except  the  Devil's 
Bellows  at  Kinance  Bay,  which  is  more  remarkable  ; 
but  I  do  not  know  why. 

"  I  have  had  my  hair  cut  by  a  barber  called  Pether- 
wick  Peninluma  ;  and  I  have  had  my  old  shoes  mended 
for  Is.  9d.,  and  they  are  more  comfortable  than  my 
new  ones,  which  cost  a  guinea.  Such,  my  Cottle,  is  a 
lesson  that  should  teach  us  how  little  real  value  there 
is  in  money,  on  which,  moreover.  Providence  sets  no 
store,  or  He  would  not  bestow  it  on  the  unworthy,  like 

;  but  no  matter,  I  am  in  charity  with  all  mankind. 

My  address  is  5  Castle  Terrace,  Ilfracombe.  Give  us 
a  hail !  My  wife  says  I  have  taken  her  '  out  of  the 
world.'     She  eats  well,  however,  for  an  angel. 

''  Ever  faithfully  yours, 

*'  Shirley  Brooks."* 

*  Vide  Frith's  "  Reminiscences." 

301 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

In  October  the  Brookses  joined  the  Friths  at 
Ramsgate.  Here  is  a  ghmpse  of  the  interesting 
group  of  people,  which  went  to  make  this  hoHday 
memorable. 

"  Think/'  writes  Mrs.  Panton  to  me,  ''  of  the 
Sotherns,  the  du  Mauriers,  the  Twisses,  ourselves  and 
the  Shirley  Brookses,  the  Calderons,  Oscar  Deutsch,* 
flushed  with  his  success  from  the  article  on  the  Talmud 
in  the  Quarterly  which  caused  a  most  profound  sensa- 
tion .  .  .  the  Yateses,  she  the  most  beautiful  creature 
I  ever  saw  or  ever  shall  see,  and  he  the  kindest  of  men. 
I  can  see  the  scene  now  .  .  .  my  father  and  Mrs.  Yates 
on  the  balcony,  Shirley  and  I  talking  from  the  balcony 
to  Mr.  Calderon  and  Mr.  Deutsch  in  the  garden  ;  while 
at  the  piano  in  the  lighted  drawing-room  du  Maurier 
was  singing  like  a  nightingale, '  The  Long,  Long,  Weary 
Day.'  Mrs.  du  Maurier,  beautiful,  stately,  and  above 
all  sweet  and  motherly,  talking  to  my  mother.'* 

The  day  after  his  return  home  Shirley  wrote  : — 


S.  B.  TO  Mr.  Frith,  R.A. 

"  London, 

"  Oct.  \2th,  1867. 

*'  My  dear  Cottle, 

*'  What  a  time  it  seems  since  I  saw  you  !  Absti- 
nence— I  mean  absence — makes  the  heart  grow  fonder 
— of  somebody  else.  Oh,  ile  of  booty  (Thanet)  fare 
thee  well ! 

''  I  heard  all  you  said  when  we  went  away.  You 
forgot  the  echo  of  the  tunnel.  But  it  was  nearly  true, 
only  I  am  not  a  cigar-smoking  porpoise  that  fancies 

*  The  well-known  Semitic  author. 

302 


RAMSGATE  V.   MARGATE 

himself  a  bird  of  Paradise,  and  it  would  not  be  better 
if  I  talked  less  and  read  more.  The  allusion  to  my 
gray  hair  and  frivolity  I  forgive,  because  gray  hair  is 
better  than  none  at  all.  But  you  had  no  right  to  say 
that  I  '  looked  a  cad,  and  you  were  glad  none  of  your 
noble  patrons  were  on  the  platform,'  because  I  have 
always  spoken  well  of  you  in  low  newspapers  ;  and  as 
for  O'Neil  laughing  at  your  wit  (?),  that  is  the  only 
way  he  pays  for  his  mammoth  breakfasts  and  mastodon 
dinners.  The  ladies*  remarks  I  forgive,  because  I  have 
heard  them  say  much  worse  things  of  you.  La  Belle 
Fanny  is,  however,  wrong  in  saying  my  wife  is  sixty  ; 
she  is  only  fifty-three  next  week.  Sissy  was  right 
(and  I  thank  your  sweet  child  for  her  courage)  in  saying 
that  she  didn't  care  what  any  of  you  said,  I  was  the 
only  lively,  unaffected,  playful  guest  (who  combined 
the  paternal,  fraternal,  and  infernal)  you  had  had 
since  you  came  to  that  detestable  and  snobbish 
Ramsgate. 

''  We  had  our  other  crosses.  At  Margate  got  in  a 
handsome  woman  (my  wife  says  she  wasn't,  but  she 
was,)  and  three  of  the  most  villainously  ugly 'brats  ever 
permitted  to  live.  Also  a  man  with  a  dog.  The  little 
beasts — four — yelped,  howled,  ran  about  the  carriage, 
growled  in  tunnels,  and  otherwise  misbehaved  them- 
selves all  the  way ;  and  the  mother  smiled  as  if  they 
were  angels.  And  all  I  could  do  was  to  pinch  the 
child  nearest  to  me,  and  sniff  haughtily,  as  Ramsgate 
sniffs  at  Margate,  and  ask  the  guard  whether  there 
were  no  places  in  the  third  class  into  which  we  could 
^et.  If  the  mother  had  been  ugly,  I  would  have  blown 
up  ;  but  she  had  the  sweetest  smile,  and  so 

*'  My  kind  love  to  Mrs.  Frith,  who  is  the  only  one, 
except  Siss,  that  appreciates  me.  I  am  heartily  glad 
to  get  back  to  my  own  vine  and  my  own  tooth-brush. 
Accept  the  enclosed  unpubHshed  trifle  : — ► 

303 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

"  When  lovely  woman  grows  too  jolly, 

And  scarcely  minds  what  things  she  says, 
And  when  her  lover,  melancholy. 
Reproves  her  for  her  flirting  ways, 

The  only  mode  retreat  to  cover, 

To  hit  him  hard  with  her  reply ; 
In  fact,  to  quite  shut  up  that  lover 

And  make  him  wretched,  is  to — cry. 

"  Love  to  you  all,  though  you  don't  deserve  it. 

"  From  yours  ever, 

We  have  seen  that  Shirley's  first  editorship,  that  of 
the  Literary  Gazette,  was  but  short-lived.  His  second 
was  destined,  like  his  third,  to  endure  to  the  last  year 
of  his  Hfe. 

In  1847  Messrs.  Grindlay  and  Company,  combining 
private  enterprise  with  public  spirit,  had  founded  a 
weekly  periodical  for  India  called  Home  News,  When 
this  was  five  years  old  an  Australian  edition  was  started, 
and  forthwith  the  twin  papers  bounded  ahead.  During 
its  brilliant  and  successful  career  of  over  fifty  years 
Home  News  numbered  amongst  its  editors  such  men  as 
A.  B.  Wright,  Robert  Bell,  G.  A.  Sala,  T.  H.  S.  Escott, 
Edward  Salmon  and  Shirley  Brooks.  On  the  death  of 
Robert  Bell  this  year  [1867]  the  editorship  was  offered 
to,  and  accepted  by,  Shirley,  between  whom  and 
Mr.  Matthews,  a  member  of  the  firm,  a  close  friendship 
was  sealed  which  lasted,  like  most  of  Shirley's 
friendships,  as  long  as  life. 

Of  his  incessant  toil  and  loyal  devotion  to  his  new 
employers  until,  seven  years  later,  his  busy  fingers 

*  Vide  Frith's  **  Reminiscences." 

304 


''HOME  NEWS'' 

laid  down  the  pen  for  ever,  it  is  impossible  to  do  more 
than  say  what  might  be  said  of  all  that  he  ever  under- 
took,— that  he  never  spared  himself  in  the  performance 
of  his  duty,  that  he  gave  of  his  best,  which  was  very 
good,  and  that  he  was  cut  off  from  its  continuance  in 
the  plenitude  of  his  powers  to  the  regret  of  all  who 
knew  him. 

Here  is  a  pleasant  little  account  of  his  friendship 
with  the  Matthews  family,  kindly  sent  to  me  by  Miss 
Matthews,  the  *'  Torie ''  of  the  Diaries. 

'*  We  knew  Mr.  Shirley  Brooks,'*  writes  Miss 
Matthews,  ''  from  the  time  he  took  the  editorship  of 
my  father's  paper,  the  Home  News,  until  his  death  in 
1874,  and  he  became  an  intimate  and  valued  friend. 

*'  It  was  at  a  time  of  his  life  when  the  strain  of  work 
was  beginning  to  tell,  and  he  seemed  to  find  refreshment 
and  pleasure  in  frequent  visits  to  our  country  cottage, 
an  easy  journey  from  London.  He  was  often  accom- 
panied by  his  wife  and  sons,  but  more  often  came 
alone  when  the  boys  and  their  mother  were  spending 
the  hoUdays  by  the  seaside  or  elsewhere  and  when  his 
work  obliged  him  to  be  in  or  near  London.  As  I  write 
the  vivid  recollection  of  such  visits  comes  back  to  me, 
when  he  would  arrive  weary  and  jaded  and,  after  resting 
awhile  perhaps  on  a  favourite  long  couch  or  on  the 
grass  under  a  large  cedar  tree,  find  amusement  in 
composing  nonsense  verses  for  the  younger  ones,  or  in 
helping  a  harassed  school  girl  to  remember  dry  historical 
dates  by  turning  them  into  humorous  rhymes,  throwing 
his  harness  aside  in  fact  and  entering  thoroughly  into 
the  home  life  of  the  family  circle.  In  between  such 
visits  his  frequent  letters,  sparkling  with  spontaneous 
wit  and  gay  good  humour,  with  pretty  allusions  to 
public  and  private  passing  events,  were  eagerly  looked 

305 

21— (2297) 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

for  and  appreciated  by  the  young  people  as  well  as 
by  the  elders.  Apart  from  his  always  interesting  com- 
ments and  criticisms  on  public  topics  and  amusing 
anecdotes,  there  was  a  graceful  atmosphere,  an  elusive 
charm  about  his  letters  which  defies  description.  They 
seemed  to  come  not  only  from  the  clever  head,  but 
straight  from  the  warm  heart.  He  was  a  genial  host 
and  the  remembrance  of  many  pleasant  evenings  at 
6  Kent  Terrace  remains  with  us,  especially  the  famous 
New  Year's  Eve  parties  to  which  both  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Brooks  loved  to  welcome  their  friends,  when  mutual 
good  wishes  were  exchanged  just  before  midnight,  and 
the  New  Year  was  ushered  in  by  a  graceful  little  speech. 
Once,  too,  the  occasion  was  marked  by  Mr.  Brooks's 
health  being  proposed  by  Artemus  Ward  with  a  grave 
humour  which  delighted  us  all.  He  would  often  dine 
with  us,  and  sometimes  joined  our  larger  gatherings, 
and  he  made  on  (what  proved  to  be)  the  last  Xmas  day 
of  his  life  a  happy  memory  to  us  all  by  toasting  the 
large  party  after  dinner  in  verses  he  composed  for  the 
occasion,  each  one  containing  a  special  word  for  the 
individual  named,  showing  how  fully  he  entered  into 
the  intimate  life  of  ourselves  and  the  friends  gathered 
round  our  table. 

'*  Although  most  of  the  friends  of  his  early  Hfe  must 
have  passed  away,  there  may  be  some  living  who 
knew  him  better  than  we  did,  and  for  a  longer  period 
of  his  life,  but  we  always  thought  he  showed  us  one  side 
of  his  character  which  was  not  visible  to  all ;  he  seemed 
to  expand  in  the  atmosphere  of  unreserved  appreciation, 
and  showed  in  return  an  affectionate  gratitude  which, 
although  we  felt  it  to  be  wholly  out  of  proportion,  yet 
endeared  him  to  young  and  old  in  the  household." 

An  undated  letter,  probably  of  this  year,  suggests  a 
subject  for  the  ''  Professor's  "  pen. 

306 


CHEATING  THE  DOCTOR 

S.  B.  TO  Percival  Leigh. 

*'  6  Kent  Terrace, 

"  Regent's  Park, 

"  N.W. 
"  Thursday. 

'*  My  dear  Professor, 

*'  Will  you,  if  not  better  engaged,  do  me  the 
pleasure  of  dining  with  me  at  *  Our  Club  '  (Clunn's, 
Piazza,  Covent  Garden)  on  Saturday  nextj  day  after 
to-morrow,  at  6  o'clock.  I  am,  for  my  sins,  in  the 
chair.  Pater  and  other  friends  will  be  there,  and 
contribute  to  the  discord  of  the  evening.  Do,  and 
you  can  of  course  leave  in  time  for  any  'bus — aU  the 
fun  is  over  by  10. 

"...  I  wish  you  saw  your  way  to  a  few  lines  on  a 
report  in  to-day's  Times.  Bottom  of  a  column.  In 
which  a  medical  man  very  properly  took  security  for 
his  fees  for  attending  a  pauper,  and  the  jury  had  the 
impudence  to  regret  it.  They  are  tradesmen  :  would 
they  have  let  the  pauper  have  beef,  beer,  etc.,  without 
security  ?  But  always  cheat  the  Doctor  is  the  rule 
with  the  lower  creation.     It  is  in  your  line. 

"  Ever  yours  affectionately, 
"S.  Brooks." 

A  friend  of  former  days  has  read  his  novel,  "  Sooner 
or  Later,"  and  writes  asking  for  his  autograph. 

S.  B.  to  Mrs.  Thorne  George. 
"6  Kent  Terrace, 

"  Regent's  Park, 

"  N.W. 
"  Sunday,  Feb.  9th,  1868. 

*'  My  dear  Mrs.  George, 

''  I  sent  off  a  paper  in  sign  that  I  had  received 
your  note  yesterday,  being  too  much  hurried  to  answer 

307 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

it,  as  I  now  hasten  to  do.  I  enclose  the  autograph 
with  much  pleasure,  and  I  will  look  up  a  few  others 
which  may  be  acceptable. 

"  Your  note  was  a  very  welcome  reminder  of  very 
pleasant  times,  to  which  I  often  recur.  It  was  when 
the  polka  was  a  new  and  fashionable  dance,  which  we 
did  with  elaborate  pantomime.  What  is  dancing  ? 
I  know  something  about  dining,  but  the  other  word 
has  no  meaning  for  me.  The  enclosed  is  the  last  effigy 
of  the  undersigned ;  he  has  a  wife  and  two  sons,  the 
latter  at  school,  and  one  of  them  proud  of  his  first  black 
eye,  gained  in  fighting. 

*'  I  am  always  pleased  when  a  friend  likes  my  books. 
This  last  has  been  remarkably  successful,  but  it  is  said 
to  be  objectionable,  I  am  very  sorry,  I  didn't  mean 
to  be  naughty,  I  only  told  the  truth,  I  won't  do  it  again. 

"  I  hope  you  will  write  to  me  again  and  tell  me 
something  about  your  family. 
*'  Believe  me, 

"  My  dear  Mrs.  George, 

"  Yours  most  sincerely, 
'*  Shirley  Brooks. 
*'  Mrs.  Thorne  George." 

About  the  same  time  he  has  a  laugh  at  Mr.  Frith 
over  the  current  value  of  his  autograph. 

S.  B.  to  Mr.  Frith,  R.A. 

"  My  dear  C ^E, 

**  You  always  said  you  were  a  humorous  party, 
but  I  never  before  had  printed  proof  in  support  of 
the  truth  of  your  assertion.  Here  we  are,  however. 
I  mean  to  buy  this.  It  is  from  an  autograph-seller's 
catalogue  just  received  : — 

"'116  Frith  (W.  P.) 

*  Humorous  Note.     2  pp.,  8vo.,    Oct.  14,  1855.     2s.' 
Vide  your  diary  for  date,  and  see  to  whom  you  writ 

308 


"PONNY'^    MAYHEW 

humorously;  it  was  before  you  were  honoured  with 
the  intimacy  and  confidence,  not  to  say  respect  and 
esteem,  of 

"  s.  b:'* 

On  the  11th  July  of  this  year  (1868),  ^' Ponny '' 
Mayhew  stood  the  Staff  a  dinner  at  the  "  Albion,'*  f 
''pour  f Her  son  Cinquantaine/'  as  he  expressed  it,  for  he 
would,  as  Shirley  remarked,  now  and  then  let  his  bad 
French  get  the  better  of  him.  Shirley  was,  as  usual, 
the  Ufe  and  soul  of  the  party,  providing  a  birthday 
ode  which  du  Maurier  sang  to  a  nondescript  melody 
of  his  own  manufacture.  J  It  ran  as  follows  and  is 
eloquent  of  the  high  estimation  in  which  Horace  was 
held  :— 

"  A  health  to  our  Ponny,  whose  birthday  we 
The  cheer  shall  be  loud,  and  the  cup  shall  be  deep. 
We  drain  it  with  old  supernaculum§  trick. 
And  we  heartily  hail  him  no  end  of  a  Brick. 

"  Is  he  perfect  ?   why  no,  that  is  hardly  the  case  ; 
If  he  were,  the  Punch  Table  would  not  be  his  place. 
You  all  have  your  faults — I  confess  one  or  two — 
And  we  love  him  the  better  for  having  a  few. 

"  But  compared  to  us  chaps,  he's  an  angel  of  hght. 
And  a  nimbus  encircles  his  caput  so  white. 
Our  joUy  old  hermit !    the  worst  we  can  say 
Is  to  call  him  a  slave  to  wine,  women,  and  play. 

*  Vide  Frith's  "  Reminiscences."        f  From  Mr.  Silver's  notes- 
J  In  "  The  True  Story  of  Punch  "  Shirley  is  said  to  have  sung  as 

well  as  written  it,  but  this  is  a  mistake. 
§  Literally  "  on  the  nail,"  from  an  old  custom  of  concluding  a 

drink  by  reversing  the  glass  and  showing  that  no  more  was  left  than 

would  rest  on  the  thumb-nail. 

309 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

"  Good  things  in  their  way,  and  much  better,  you  know. 
Than  going  the  length  that  some  gentlemen  go — 
I  won't  mention  names,  but  if  law  had  it's  right, 
A  respectable  party  were  smaller  to-night. 

"He  never  did  murder,  like — never  mind  whom. 
Nor  poisoned  relations,  Hke — some  in  this  room  ; 
Nor  deceived  young  ladies,  like — men  whom  I  see. 
Nor  even  intrigued  with  a  gosHng — ^like  me. 

"  No ;   black  are  our  bosoms,  and  red  are  our  hands, 
But  a  model  of  virtue  our  Ponniboy  stands ; 
And  his  basest  detractors  can  only  say  this, 
That  he's  fond  of  the  cup,  and  the  card,  and  the  kiss. 

*'  A  warm-hearted  fellow — a  faithful  ally. 
Our  Bloater's  Vice-Regent  o'er  Punches  gone  by  ; 
He's  as  true  to  the  flag  of  the  White  Friars  still. 
As  when  he  did  service  with  Jerrold  and  Gill. 

"  His  health  in  a  bumper  !     '  Old  '  Ponny — a  fib  ; 
What's  fifty  ?    A  baby.     Bring  tucker  and  bib. 
Add  twenty ;   then  ask  us  again,  little  boy. 
And  till  then  may  your  life  be  all  pleasure  and  joy !  *'  * 

Then  Keene  sang  ''  There  were  Three  Ravens/'  with 
tears  in  his  deep  bass  voice.  This  was  followed  by 
Shirley  improvising  a  new  version  of  an  old  convivial 
chorus  : — 

"  Here's  to  the  writer  of  horrible  books. 
And  the  rhyme  may  remind  you  of  one,  Shirley  Brooks ! 
Viva  la  compagnie,"  etc.,  etc. 

And  the  entertainment  concluded  by  Shirley  pro- 
posing the  health  of  Mark  Lemon,  not  merely  as  a  good 
Editor,  who  never  snubbed  his  writers,  but  as  a  com- 
fortable, corpulent  personage,  whom  there  was  no  fear 
of  mistaking  for  anybody  else,  as  the  man  did  who, 

*  Vide  "  The  True  Story  of  Punch,"  by  Joseph  Hatton  in 
London  Society,  1875. 

310 


ACTING  EDITOR  OF   "PUNCH" 

when  asked  whether  he  knew  the  Siamese  twins,  repHed 
"  I  rather  think  that  IVe  met  one  of  them,  but  I  forget 
exactly  which." 

In  August  Shirley  was  in  London  acting  locum  tenens 
for  Mark  Lemon. 

S.  B.  TO  Percival  Leigh. 

"  Bedford  Hotel, 
"  Co VENT  Garden, 
"W.C. 

"August  nth,  1868. 

"  My  dear  Professor, 

''  I  have  a  line  from  my  wife,  who  mentions  that 
Mrs.  Leigh,  your  brother  and  yourself,  were  kind 
enough  to  meet  her,  and  put  her  in  the  right  way  for 
the  voyage.  I  had  much  compunction  in  telegraphing, 
for  I  thought  I  might  detain  your  brother  later  in 
S'hampton  than  he  would  care  to  stay,  but  I  ventured 
to  trespass  on  his  kindness,  and  I  am  heartily  obliged 
to  you  all.  It  was  well,  I  fancy,  that  my  folks  went 
early.     I  shall  hear  to-morrow. 

"  The  above  will  be  my  best  address,  the  British 
Workman  having  extruded  me  from  my  house,  in  which 
I  linger  to  write  this.  But  I  shall  sleep  in  better  air 
than  that  of  my  dear  old  Co  vent  Garden.  Yet  the 
leads  on  the  top  of  the  club  after  dark,  and  with  cool 
drink,  are  not  a  bad  place  for  a  smoke,  and  we  see 
many  fireworks  for  nothing. 

*'  Please  remember  that  I  shall  be  on  duty  for  a 
month,  in  Mark's  absence,  and  send  me  anything  of 
suggestion,  without  boring  yourself,  that  occurs. 
The  paper  will  gladly  pay  telegraph,  should  anything 
occur  at  a  late  moment  to  you. 

*'  Once  more,  my  kindest  regards  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 

311 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

Fred.     I  have  been  telling  his  workhouse  story  with 
the  greatest  success  to  the  3  people  left  in  London. 
''  Du  Maurier  a  4th  child,  a  princess. 

'*  Ever  yours, 

'*S.  B.*' 

This  year  the  Gentleman's  Magazine  first  appeared 
as  a  shilling  serial  under  the  editorship  of  Joseph 
Hatton,  the  proprietors  being  Messrs.  Bradbury  and 
Evans.  Shirley  was  from  the  beginning  a  contributor, 
and  afterwards,  in  Hatton's  words,  ''  wrote  some 
of  the  most  charming  of  all  the  charming  essays  which 
appeared  in  those  early  days  of  the  new  series,  when 
the  magazine  could  afford  to  pay  writers  well.*' 

It  was  somewhere  about  this  time  that  he  struck 
up  a  friendship,  which  lasted  to  the  end  of  his  life,  with 
a  lady  who  has  since  made  herself  famous.  Mrs. 
JopUng  Rowe  was  then  Mrs.  Frank  Romer. 

''  I  had,''  she  writes  to  me,  "  just  returned  from 
Paris  after  a  residence  of  four  years,  where  during  the 
last  sixteen  months  of  my  stay  I  had  commenced  my 
artistic  training  under  Monsieur  Chaplin.  We  were 
on  a  visit  to  my  husband  Frank  Romer' s  parents,  in 
St.  John's  Wood.  I,  my  husband,  and  my  two  little 
boys.  In  those  days  it  was  a  delightful  treat  to  be 
invited  to  take  tea  at  the  old  Bedford  Hotel,  Covent 
Garden,  where  one  would  invariably  meet  such  cele- 
brities as  Thackeray,  Mark  Lemon,  Shirley  Brooks,  and 
a  host  of  lesser  lights.  It  was  here  I  was  introduced 
to  Shirley  Brooks.  He  was  dehghtful  to  talk  to, 
briUiant  and  helpful.  You  at  once  felt  at  your  ease 
with  him,  his  kindliness  was  unbounded.  You  had 
only  to  mention  incidentally  that  you  wanted  to  read 

312 


A  HELPING  HAND 

such  and  such  a  book,  when  he  would  either  lend  it  to 
you  himself,  or  go  out  of  his  way  to  borrow  it  for  you. 
*'  About  that  time,  I  had  utilized  a  pretty  maid  as 
model.  She  had  plenty  of  spare  moments,  as  the  family 
were  at  the  seaside,  and  nothing  gratified  her  vanity 
more  than  being  painted  by  me.  It  turned  out  rather 
a  pretty  Uttle  picture,  and  I  sent  it  for  exhibition  to 
a  small  gallery  called  the  Corinthian.  This  called 
forth  the  following  letter  from  Mr.  Brooks  : — 

S.  B.  TO  Mrs.  F.  Romer  (Mrs.  Jopling  Rowe). 

"  '  Bedford  Hotel, 

"  '  Sunday,  November  I4th. 

"  '  My  dear  Mrs.  Romer, 

'*  '  A  friend  of  mine,  who  writes  on  art  in  the 
Observer,  was  going  the  other  day  to  the  Corinthian 
Gallery,  so  I  bade  him  Observer  your  picture.  He  says, 
to-day,  ^^  Among  the  contributors  best  known  in  Art 
are  so-and-so,  and  so-and-so  ;  Miss  L.  Romer,  with  a 
neatly  executed  single  half-figure.  No.  240." 

**  '  It  is  hardly  worth  mention  to  you,  but  it  is  an 
excuse  for  wishing  you  many  happy  returns  of  the  day 
on  which  you  receive  this,  and  all  sorts  of  success  in 
your  profession. 

" '  Very  faithfully, 

"  *  Shirley  Brooks. 
"  '  Mrs.  F.  Romer,  Jun.'  " 

This  was  very  characteristic  of  Shirley's  thoughtful- 
ness.  Hard-pressed  as  he  always  was,  he  was  never 
too  busy  to  write  to  any  young  friend  who  might  chance 
to  need  a  word  of  encouragement. 

Nor  was  his  a  merely  perfunctory  solicitude  to  be 
satisfied  by  a  note  dashed  off  and  done  with.  When 
once  his  interest  was  aroused  he  continued  to  bear 

313 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

about  in  his  over-crowded  mind  the  needs  of  his  young 
friends.  We  all  know  that  Mrs.  Jopling  Rowe  has 
*'  arrived/'  but  she  is  not  too  proud  to  own  that 
Shirley  was  the  good  fairy  who  made  the  uphill  road 
easier  for  the  Mrs.  Frank  Romer  of  those  days.  Here 
is  a  letter  which  speaks  for  itself  : — 

S.  B.  TO  Mrs.  F.  Romer  (Mrs.  Jopling  Rowe). 
'*  My  dear  Mrs.  Frank  Romer, 

*'  This  note  is  only  to  show  you  that  I  am  bearing 
your  wishes  in  mind.  I  have  been  asking  Mr.  O'Neil 
(one  of  the  Associates)  about  the  Royal  Academy. 
He  says  (but  I  may  be  telling  you  only  what  you  know) 
that  the  first  thing  is  for  a  candidate  to  draw  a  large 
(imperial  paper  size)  copy  of  an  ancient  statue.  This 
is  sent  to  the  Keeper  (Charles  Landseer,  whom  I  know 
well),  and  it  is  submitted  to  a  council  which  meets  to 
judge  such  things.  A  letter  from  some  '  known ' 
person,  introducing  the  student,  accompanies  it.  I  am 
told  that,  if  you  ever  think  of  sending,  my  humble  name 
is  enough  for  you.  If  approved  as  of  good  promise, 
the  sketch  will  suffice  to  make  the  executant  a  Proba- 
tioner, and  she  is  admitted  for  3  months,  during  which 
time  she  must  do  another  from  the  antique.  If  this 
is  as  good  as  the  first,  or  at  all  events  affords  promise, 
she  is  made  a  Student.  No  fees.  Possibly  you  know 
all  this,  but  as  I  did  not,  I  send  my  newly  acquired 
learning. 

"  Ever  yours, 

''  Shirley  Brooks.'* 

**  The  '  No  fees,*  **  Mrs.  Jopling  Rowe  writes,  '*  was 
purposely  underlined  as  we  were  at  that  time  in  the 
unpleasant  position  of  not  possessing  a  farthing  of  our 
own.     In  the  meantime  I  was  working  away  in  my 

314 


A  PRETTY   MODEL 

temporary  homCj  chiefly  using  my  bedroom  as  my 
studio." 

Then  the  young  student  must  be  introduced  to 
his  friend,  the  celebrated  painter,  and  he  arranges  a 
visit. 

In  the  course  of  the  drive  to  Mr.  Frith's  house,  Shirley 
remarked  on  the  pretty  looks  and  nice  manner  of 
Mrs.  Romeros  ''  model ''  maid,  who  had  opened  the  door 
to  him. 

0 

'*  It  annoys  me,''  he  said,  '*  if  I  am  discourteously 
treated  at  the  threshold  of  a  friend's  door.  I  remember 
once  calling  on  someone,  and  the  maid  in  her  rudest 
manner  told  me  he  was  not  in,  and  shut  the  door  in  my 
face.  I  felt  I  must  be  revenged  upon  her  somehow, 
so  I  returned  after  an  interval  of  five  minutes,  rang  the 
bell,  and  in  my  meekest  manner  mildly  said,  '  Did  I  say 
he  was  ?  '  " 

The  visit  to  the  celebrated  Royal  Academician 
resulted  in  unexpected  and,  as  it  proved,  very  sound 
advice. 

'*  Don't  go  to  the  Academy  Schools,"  he  said,  "  you 
have  been  taught  on  a  different  method,  and  you  might 
lose  your  originality  if  you  began  all  over  again. 
Go  on  working  as  you  are  doing — by  yourself." 

''  And,"  naively  writes  Mrs.  Rowe,  *'  having  asked 
his  advice,  I  did  a  strange  thing.     I  followed  it." 

Nor  was  the  introduction  of  the  student  to  the 
painter  the  end  of  Shirley's  interest  in  the  matter. 
The  following  Monday  he  writes  that  he  must  see  her 
and  talk  over  the  advice  which  Mr.  Frith  had  given. 
If  the  young  artist  could  not  go  to  see  him,  the  busy 

315 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

journalist  would  make  it  his  business  to  go  to  see  her. 
Of  course,  the  young  artist  made  his  convenience  hers 
and  was  well  rewarded.  First  he  enlarged  upon  all 
the  encouraging  things  that  Mr.  Frith  had  said  to  her. 
And  then,  in  the  most  delicate  manner,  he  said  he  wanted 
her  to  paint  his  portrait  whenever  she  felt  inclined  to 
undertake  it,  and  in  the  meantime  there  was  five  pounds 
for  canvases,  paints  and  brushes  which,  of  course, 
were  serious  items  when  a  purse  had  little  or  nothing 
in  it! 

A  little  later  he  acts  as  godfather  to  a  little  poem  she 
had  written,  "  Lux  e  Tenebris/'  and  writes  : — 

S.  B.  TO  Mrs.  Frank  Romer  (Mrs.  Jopling  Rowe). 
'*  My  dear  Mrs.  Frank, 

"  I  was  just  going  to  write  to  you.  Firstly,  I  have 
the  pleasure  of  informing  you  that  your  poem  will 
appear  in  the  April  number  of  the  Gentleman's  Maga- 
zine,  and  I  hope  you  will  not  much  disapprove  of  a 
verbal  alteration  or  two  which  I  have  ventured  on 
merely  on  technical  grounds.  I  have  desired  that  the 
earliest  possible  number  may  be  posted  to  you. 
Secondly,  I  doubt  whether  I  shall  have  the  pleasure  of 
seeing  you  to-morrow,  because,  unless  the  wind  walks 
round  again  into  the  bitter  East,  I  propose  to  go 
to  Crawley  for  three  or  four  days  for  a  little  air.  I  am 
as  stupid  as  any  old  owl,  between  being  in  the  house 
and  taking  morphia.  But  I  want  particularly  to  see 
your  pictures,  and  to  be  of  any  use  I  can  in  the  way  of 
suggesting  title,  quotation,  or  aught  that  may  be  of 
use,  and  as  soon  as  I  come  up,  I  will,  if  you  will  allow 
me,  call  in  Greville  Place.  Lastly,  I  should  like  to 
hear  how  you  like  the  look  of  your  verses,  etc.,  and  so 

316 


MRS.   JOPLING   ROWE 

if  you  send  me  a  line  to  the  George  Hotel,  Crawley, 
it  will  be  very  welcome.     Lastly,  again, 
*'  Believe  me, 

''  Ever  yours  sincerely, 

'*  Shirley  Brooks. 
"  Mrs.  Frank  Romer,  Jun. 

*'  P.S. — You  will  see  me  as  your  companion  in  the 
Magazine.  I  have  done  '  The  Alchemist,'  but  I  don't 
know  that  it  is  readable.  I  daresay  not,  for  as  I  said, 
I  am  an  owl.'' 

Of  course,  he  remembers  to  send  a  copy  of  the 
Magazine  : — 

Ditto  to  Ditto. 
"  My  dear  Mrs.  Frank, 

"  I  send  you  the  G.M.  by  this  or  next  (to-night's) 
post,  as  I  daresay  it  may  not  be  sent  up  from  Fleet 
Street.  You  are  in  good  company — see  the  article  on 
Sir  Walter  Scott,  by  my  old  friend  Carruthers,  whose 
son  married  Miss  Laidlaw.  I  am  here,  Mrs.  Lemon 
would  not  let  me  go  to  the  hotel,  and  I  shall  be  here 
until  Saturday  afternoon." 

Then  follows  a  cheque  for  two  guineas. 

'*  It  is  not  much,  but  little  fishes  are  sweet ;  why  they 
make  it  payable  at  Albany  Street,  Heaven  only  knows, 
and  won't  tell." 

If  he  had  enjoyed  a  book  himself  he  never  found  it 
too  much  trouble  to  hand  it  on  to  a  friend. 

Ditto  to  Ditto. 
"My  dear  Mrs.  Frank, 

"  Not  at  all.  I  Uke  to  be  reminded  of  a  promise — 
that  is,  by  one  to  whom  I  meant  to  keep  it.  That  is  a 
virtuous  sentiment ! 

The  Revolution  '  is  in  three  rather  large  volumes. 
317 


((  ( 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

These  I  propose  to  leave  in  a  parcel  for  you,  on  Wednes- 
day, at  the '  Bedford/  on  my  way  to  the  dinner.  But  as 
such  a  parcel  would  be  heavy  for  one  fair  arm,  I  have 
made  up  the  books  separately  (numbered^  mind)  so 
that  you  can  fetch  them  away,  one  by  one,  as  conve- 
nient. I  would  have  saved  you  this  trouble,  by  sending 
them  by  the  Parcels'  delivery,  but  they  knock  books 
about  abominably,  and  I  know  you  are,  like  myself, 
too  fond  of  books  to  treat  them  roughly.  It  is  not  a 
work  to  be  read  in  a  hurry  ;  take  your  time  about  it, 
and  if,  which  is  most  unlikely,  I  want  a  volume  before 
you  return  them,  I  will  send  for  it.  Yes,  read  it 
leisurely,  for  the  pictures  are  too  elaborate  to  be  hastily 
dismissed.  I  am  sure  you  will  be  delighted.  I  have 
just  glanced  through  the  3rd  volume  and  it  has  all 
the  old  power  for  me.  There  are  to  be  30  volumes  of 
the  series  !  Haven't  my  folks  (thanks  to  my  instruc- 
tions) covered  them  well  ?  This  is  a  '  monograph ' 
which  I  take  to  mean  an  essay  on  one  subject  only, 
and  it  will  not  be  if  I  say  more  than  that 

"  I  am,  ever  yours  faithfully, 

''  S.  B/' 

The  record  of  1868  may  close  with  three  letters  to 
Percival  Leigh,  chiefly  on  Punch  matters. 

S.  B.  TO  Percival  Leigh. 

"  Bedford  Hotel, 

**  Co  VENT  Garden, 

"  Monday,  22nd, 

"  My  dear  p.  L.  or  Uncle  Percy, 

**  I  got  a  note  from  Mark  (who  is  better,  and  will 
I  hope  run  up),  but  in  it  he  mentions  that  in  looking 
over  P.  P.  yesterday,  he  thought  it  best  to  *  remove  ' 
your  notice  on  the  Winchester  Mayor,  as  personal. 
I  thought  it  a  well-merited  smack  in  the  eye  for  a 
humbug,  but  of  course  M.  L.  is  the  House  of  Lords, 

318 


DR.  PUSEY  AND  "  MISS  METHODIST '' 

so  you'll  know  why  it  is  out.  The  '  Gas  and  Soap  * 
merely  stand  over  for  want  of  room,  and  of  course  will 
appear  in  our  next.  I  gave  you  so  much  trouble  on 
Saturday  that  I  seem  to  owe  you  these  explanations. 

"  Plenty  of  news  now,  Warsaw,  Austria  and  Hungary, 
Russia  and  Sardinia,  Irish  Americans  and  Prince,  etc., 
etc. 

*'  My  address  is  the  '  Bedford  *  till  further  notice. 

"  Ever  yours, 

"S.  B. 

'*  My  child  is  better,  and  to-day  they  go  to  Crawley 
for  a  week.'* 

In  the  following  letter  reference  is  made  to  the  fact 
that  Dr.  Pusey  had  appealed  for  sympathy  to  the 
Wesleyan  Conference  and  been  rebuffed.  The  cartoon 
was  entitled  ''  Rejected  Addresses,''  and  represented 
the  Doctor  paying  court  to  Miss  Methodist. 

"  Dr.  Pusey.  *  And,  my  dear  young  lady,  if  I  could 
induce  you  and  your  friends  to  look  kindly  upon  my 
proposal " 

''  Miss  Methodist.  *  But  you  can't,  Sir.  I  don't  want 
to  go  to  church  at  all ;  and  if  I  did,  I'm  sure  I  wouldn't 
go  with  you.'  " 

The  *'  Abergele  horror "  refers  to  the  appalling 
railway  accident  on  the  Chester  and  Holyhead  railway, 
in  which  an  express  train  running  into  a  van  containing 
petroleum  caused  thirty-four  deaths. 

Ditto  to  Ditig. 

"  Bedford  Hotel, 

"August  24th. 

''  My  dear  Professor,  ^''''^''^'  ^^^^ 

*'  All  is  serene.     Mark  went  off  on  Tuesday,  and 
states  that  he  is  very  happy.     If  you  Hke  to  write  to 

319 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

him,  Mrs.  Champion's,  Barmouth,  is  the  address. 
You  will  see  that  your  idea  of  the  subject  was  that  of 
the  council,  but  I  don't  think  that  J.  T.  has  got  the  right 
likeness  of  Pusey.  I  am  the  only  person  in  London, 
and  I  am  very  dull,  and  have  a  bad  cold.  Thanks,  my 
folks  are  at  S.  Brelade's,  and  quite  well,  though  my 
report  might  have  been  very  different,  for  as  my  wife 
was  mounting  a  char-a-banc,  the  fools  drove  on,  and 
she  fell,  and  that  she  did  not  get  her  legs  broken  was 
a  miracle.  However,  in  a  week  of  such  a  horror  as 
that  of  Abergele  an  *  escape  '  is  hardly  a  thing  to  write 
about.  All  medical  men  tell  me  that  the  deaths  must 
have  been  instant  from  suffocation,  and  painless,  and 
it  is  a  comfort  to  believe  it.  Kindest  regards  to  your 
sister  and  brother. 

*'  Ever  yours, 
"  S.  B. 
"  I  writ  the  '  PoHte  Election.' 
"  P.  Leigh,  Esq." 

Ditto  to  Ditto. 

"49  King's  Road,  Brighton, 

"  Sunday. 

"My  dear  Professor, 

'*  Thanks  for  the  '  D.*  I  think  your  notice  of 
M.  L.  exactly  what  should  be  said.  The  regular  critic, 
of  course,  wanted  to  show  his  own  cleverness — and 
showed  none.  The  misprints  are  pleasing,  but  I  see 
them  in  other  articles  than  yours,  and  I  suppose  the 
subscribers  like  them.  Were  I  you,  and  cared  about 
it,  I  would  write  a  day  or  two  earlier,  and  have  my 
proofs.  Brighton  is  crammed  full  of  the  swell  mob, 
and  gay  in  its  d — d  way.  But  we  shall  come  up  on 
Wednesday,  and  I  hope  to  see  you  at  dinner  on  that 

320 


'M5   DECISIVE   BOTTLES   OF   THE   WORLD/' 

day.     They  want  me  to  dine  at  3,  being  Sunday,  but 
*  not  for  Joseph/  says  I,  and  goes  to  a  restoorang. 

*'  Ever  yours, 

"  S.  B. 

"  I  have  no  antelopes  ;   excuse  this  wild  sheet. 
"  Creasy' s  Book*  reminds  me  of  an  idea, 

The  '  15  Decisive  Bottles  of  the  World,' 
Celebrated  drinks — Alexander — Socrates — 
and  so  on.     Let  you  and  me  make  a  list  together  some 
night  over  a  16th.''  , 

*  Sir  Edward  Creasy 's  "Fifteen  Decisive  Battles  of  the  World." 


321 

aa— (3297) 


CHAPTER  XVI 


1869 — Diary,  et  passim — Financial  Position — Letters — Mr.  Levy's 
Party — Linley  Sambourne — Harriet  Martineau's  *'  Biographical 
Sketches  " — J.  R.  Robinson — Ernest  Jones,  Chartist — Death  of 
Keeley — Cartoons — Gout — Mrs.  Frank  Romer — Royal  Academy 
Dinner — Hieroglyphic  Letter  from  du  Maurier — Percival  Leigh 
— Lord  Derby — Alex.  Munro — Lord  Lytton — Grisi — A  Sharp 
Warning — Illness. 

HE  year  1869,  as  we  learn  from 
the  second  of  the  diaries  which 
have  come  to  hand,  brought 
with  it  many  new  and 
interesting  acquaintanceships. 
Amongst  the  names  which  flit 
across  its  pages  are  those  of 
Marie  Wilton  (now  Lady  Ban- 
croft) :  ['*  She  invites  me  to 
see  her  new  decorations  (at  the 
Prince  of  Wales'  s  Theatre) .  She 
has  got  rid  of  the  orchestra/'] 
The  Joachims :  ['*  Joachim,  after  smoke,  played 
something  of  Bach's,  I  suppose  wonderfully."  ] 
Sterndale  Bennett ;  Sainton ;  Arthur  Sullivan ; 
Piatti ;  Ben  Webster ;  Joseph  Hatton ;  Charles 
Keene  ;  the  Burnands  :  [*'  He  going  to  Antwerp 
to-morrow.  She  looked  very  handsome."]  Sala : 
["  told  many  good  stories."]  Benedict ;  Madame 
S.  Dolby ;    the  Chappells  :    [**  I  liked  her  much,  and 

322 


FRIENDS 

talked  to  her  a  great  deal/']  The  Wigans;  the  Knoxes; 
the  Levys ;  Sothern ;  Kavanagh  (the  armless  and 
legless  M.P.)  ;  W.  Russell ;  Charles  Knight  :  ['*  I  want 
to  be  in  his  kindly  thoughts,  dear  old  boy"]  ;  the 
du  Mauriers ;  Charles  Dickens ;  the  Twisses ;  the  J 
Princeps ;  the  Calderons ;  the  Boucicaults  ;  Arcedekne 
the  Agnews  ;  Montagu  Williams  ;  Mrs.  Lynn  Linton 
['*  Dear  Mrs.  Linton,  always  kind  "]  ;  Wilkie  Collins 
the  Ansdells  ;  Sir  William  Fergusson  ;  Percival  Leigh 
the  Silvers  ;  Lester  Wallack  ;  Home,  the  Spiritualist 
Tom  Taylor  ;  Henry  Morley  ;  the  Cudlips  ;  Richard 
Burton  and  his  wife  ;  Fanny  Holland  ;  the  German 
Reeds :  [''at  me  again  for  an  entertainment '']]; 
Daniel  O* Council  and  his  wife  ;  the  Landseers  ;  the 
Jerrolds  ;  Paddy  Green  ;  Sergeant  Ballantine  ;  Arthur 
Sketchley  ;  Lord  Houghton  ;  Charles  Reade  ;  Arthur 
Helps :  [''  whom  I  much  like "] ;  Marcus  Stone 
Hepworth  Dixon ;  Algernon  Borthwick ;  Huxley 
[''who  seemed  desirous  to  know  me'*];  Planche 
Millais ;  Mr.  J.  C.  Parkinson ;  Mr.  John  Morley 
["  we  had  a  good  chat  in  the  smoke  room  ''] ;  the 
Macfarrens  ;  the  Bensusans  ;  Oxenford  ;  Wigan  ; 
Layard  :  ["  just  going  out  as  Minister  to  Spain  ''] ;  the 
Theodore  Martins  ;  Christine  Nilsson  ;  the  Faeds  ;  the 
Rousbys  ;  Deutsch  :  ["he  has  returned  from  the  East 
with  some  remarkable  discovery "] ;  and  James 
Davison  (musical  critic  to  the  Times). 

Financially  things  have  gone  better  than  ever  during 
1868,  and  he  writes  : — 

"  I  record  spending  about  £1,500  hard  cash,  but 
therein  is  not  counted  anything  under  ;^1.     And  I  have 

323 


SHIRLEY   BROOKS 

divers  monies  in  hand,  jfSO  with  M.  L.,  a  lot  at  198 
Strand,  and  some  at  55  Parliament  St.  I  enter  the 
year  with  much  more  than  I  have  ever  had,  D.G. 
Many  calls  on  it,  however." 

Now,  for  the  first  time,  he  insures  his  life  to  the  tune 
of  £4,000,  and  apparently  but  just  in  time,  for,  from 
an  entry  in  red  ink  later  on  in  the  year,  we  learn  that 
he  is  roughly  reminded  that  he  cannot  expect  to  attain 
to  old  age.  It  is  a  sort  of  provisional  notice  to  quit, 
in  the  near  future,  the  life  out  of  which  he  has  got  as 
much  happiness  as  most,  but  from  which  he  is  not  over 
loth  to  depart,  having  learned  like  a  wise  man  to 
anticipate  the  time  when  he  must  make  up  his  mind  to 
take  his  last  journey. 

On  January  1st  he  is  "  reading  the  edifying  works 
of  Thomas  Browne,"  and  remarks  "  he  nobly  steals 
from  Rabelais." 

On  January  2nd  he  is  annoyed  that  Tenniel  finds  he 
cannot  do  the  cut  he  has  ''  suggested,"  and  has  done  a 
"  happy  new  year "  one  instead.  ''  I  think  these 
things  twaddle,  and  that  P.  should  be  more  incisive." 

''  Jan.  3rd. 

*'  Went  through  accounts  and  compared  them  with 
E.*s.  She  has  had  ^^600  last  year,  perhaps  a  little  more, 
and  has  managed  admirably.  I  have  counted  up  outlay 
in  hard  cash — see  last  page  in  diary  for  '68.  This  shows 
£1,225.  Fred  Evans  called  about  a  par.  in  new  P, 
about  Tennyson  and  Moxon,  which  he  thinks  calculated 
to  do  B.  &  E.  mischief,  and  asked  whether  I  thought 
it  might  be  removed.  As  M.  L.  recognizes  the  right 
of  the  firm  to  make  business  objections,  I  thought  he 

324 


DISESTABLISHMENT  OF  IRISH   CHURCH 

might  go  to  Stacy  about  it.  Wrote  M.  L.  thereon.  .  .  . 
At  6.30  to  dine  at  Frith's.  No  one  else  except  Parkin- 
son and  Harold  Bellew.  Yet  rather  a  pleasant  evening. 
Looked  at  Dore's  '  Paradise  Lost ' — very  little  that 
is  good.  Talked  most  to  Sis,  who  lent  me  a  thing 
called  the  '  Idealist/  with  poetry  of  her  own,  which  is 
singularly  good.  .  .  .  We  all  laughed  over  the 
Bummer  der  Breitmann." 

"Jan.  4th. 

''  In  the  night  my  nose  bled  fluently.  I  didn't  know 
it,  but  fancied  I  had  a  bad  cold,  nor  did  I  discover  it, 
until  after  I  had  taken  in  E.*s  tea.  But  for  accidentally 
looking  at  the  bed  I  should  have  denied  the  story — 
which  may  be  worth  note,  therefore." 

"  Jan,  5th. 

"  Dined  at  home,  E.  went  with  Amy  to  hear,  for  the         ^    -. 
first  time,  Dickens  read  '  Nancy,'  inter  alia,  and  came     )  /  ^  ^  ' 
home  by  no  means  impressed." 

''Jan.  6th. 

"  SmalUsh  meeting.  I  suggested  the  cut,  a  protest 
that  we  disfranchize,  I  mean  destroy,  the  Irish  Church, 
for  the  sake  only  of  justice,  not  to  please  the  assassins 
and  priests.*" 

"  Jan.  7th. 

''  Some  cold  beef,  and  at  9  to  Edward  Levy's  f,  where 
a  great  revel  was  held.  The  place  fitted  up  as  a  Music 
Hall,  and  the  daintiest  real  bar,  at  which  Harriette 

*  The  new  Ministry  was  pledged  to  introduce  a  Bill  for  the 
Disestablishment  and  Disendowment  of  the  Protestant  Church  of 
Ireland.  The  cartoon  represents  Gladstone  sacrificing  the  Irish 
Church  to  satisfy  the  Roman  Priesthood  and  to  pacify  the  Irish 
murderers. 

I  Now  Lord  Bumham. 

325 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

Levy,  Matilda,  and  another  young  lady  stood  all  night, 
dispensing  iced  cup,  much  needed,  for  the  weather  was 
hot,  and  the  rooms  were  crowded.  Singing  and  other 
performances  till  12,  then  capital  supper  in  two  rooms. 
In  addition  to  the  usual  food,  hot  kidneys,  etc.,  as  at 
a  Hall.  Expected  to  be  bored,  but  wasn't,  and  knew 
everybody  almost.  Made  acquaintance  with  Mrs.  T. 
Chappell,  and  young  Montagu,  the  actor,  both  of  whom 
I  like.  Took  Mrs.  Boucicault  to  supper,  and  showed 
her  every  attention,  for  auld  lang  syne  and  other 
reasons.  Emily  had  a  waltz  with  Fred  Evans.  Smoke, 
and  I  sat  talking  to  Sothern  and  other  men.  When 
it  was  a  good  deal  after  two,  I  had  no  particular  wish 
to  come  away.  Got  a  cab  without  difficulty.  We 
said  good-night,  E.  and  I,  at  J  to  4,  a  rare  hour  with  me 
now. 

"  This  bit  of  spite  appeared  a  few  days  later.  It 
was  natural  that  a  beastly  '  correspondent '  should 
write  it,  but  I  was  not  pleased  to  see  it  copied  into  the 
Express,  which  is  respectable.  The  fellow  was  not 
there — as  is  seen  by  what  he  says  about  the  garden, 
which  was  not  covered  in,  or  used. 

**  '  An  extraordinary  party  was  given  last  week  by 
a  Jewish  gentleman  who  is  well  known  in  the  metro- 
politan circles.  His  large  garden  was  covered  over, 
and  made  to  represent  the  place  of  amusement  known 
as  the  ''  Alhambra."  His  wife  presided  at  a  drinking- 
bar,  made  to  resemble  the  original ;  and  the  dancing, 
the  tables  here  and  there,  and  the  groups  were  hkewise 
on  the  Leicester-square  model.  This  is  too  much  even 
for  the  literary  flatterers  upon  whom  wealth  has  a 
peculiar  influence  ;  and  the  intense  vulgarity  of  the 
notion  excites  general  contempt.' — Bury  Post.'' 

Further  details  of  this  amusing  entertainment  are 
given  in  the  following  letter  : — 

326 


A  NOTABLE  ENTERTAINMENT 

S.  B.  TO  Percival  Leigh. 

"  6  Kent  Terrace, 

"  Regent's  Park, 

"  N.W. 
''Jan.  9th,  1869. 

''  My  dear  Professor, 

''  When  Cato  entered  the  theatre — ^but  you  know 
all  about  that.  I  hope  that  when  you  entered  the 
ball-room  the  dancers  ceased  the  Mazurka  and 
demanded  a  recitation  from  '  Caliban  on  Setebos.' 

*'  The  following  recital  may  amuse  you.  Young 
Edward  Levy,  of  the  Telegraph,  and  his  beauteous 
wife  (formerly  Harriet*  Webster),  *  giv'd  a  barty,'  Uke 
'  Dat  Bummer  der  Breitmann,'  on  Thursday.  Wishing 
to  vary  the  monotony  of  such  things,  and  having  a 
good  deal  of  acquaintance  among  actors  and  amateurs, 
they  fitted  up  their  rooms  (in  Woburn  Place)  like  a 
Music  Hall,  with  appointments,  big  bills  on  the  walls, 
a  stage,  long  tables,  etc.,  and  E.  Levy  '  took  the  chair  * 
like  a  presiding  landlord.  Then,  all  the  songs,  etc., 
were  burlesques  of  (I  may  say  satires  upon)  the  Music 
Hall  performances,  but  good  in  themselves,  especially 
Louise  Keeley  in  a  sailor's  pea-jacket,  singing  a  nautical 
song.  Byron  with  2  boy-dogs,  who,  with  vast  pretence 
by  him,  did  nothing  ;  and  Albert  Levy,  with  a  capital 
caricature  of  the  Great  Vance.  But  the  gem  was  the 
daintiest  '  bar,'  fitted  up  with  perfect  accuracy  (to  a 
beer  engine),  but  so  elegant  with  coloured  bottles, 
flowers,  etc.,  that  if  you  had  seen  it,  you  never  would 
have  gone  into  Fisk's  again.  At  this  presided  as 
barmaids,  all  night,  3  of  the  prettiest  women,  Mrs.  Levy, 
Matilda,  and  another,  in  Watteau  dresses,  and  they 
served  you  with  iced  cup  out  of  silver  bowls.   Splendid 

♦  Properly  "  Harriette." 

327 


SHIRLEY   BROOKS 

supper,  in  two  rooms,  in  the  ordinary  way  (I  think  no 
sweets,  nor  similar  abominations),  boar's  head,  game, 
raised  pie,  etc.,  but — to  keep  up  the  Hall — chops, 
welsh  rarebits,  and  kidneys.  I  had  the  latter,  and  a 
potato,  better  than  any  I  have  ever  had,  except  at 
Evans's.  All  the  folks,  about  90,  I  think,  knew  one 
another,  or  mostly,  and  I  never  saw  so  many  pretty 
faces  in  one  house.  Lindsay  Sloper,  Benedict,  and 
Madame  Sherrington's  husband  (she  sang)  saw  to  the 
music.  Then  smoke  for  the  men,  and  dancing  for  the 
women  and  boys.  Du  Maurier  fell  in  love  seven  times, 
and  was  in  the  eighth  when  his  wife  bore  him  away. 
I  did  the  same  in  a  milder  degree,  but  concealed  it  from 
my  wife,  so  she  let  me  stay  till  3.  Altogether,  it  was 
an  original  business,  and  a  grand  success, — and  I  was 
not  bored  once.  There,  if  your  revel  was  as  good, 
'  here  are  in  all  two  worthy  voices  gained  to  dissipation.' 
''  Kindest  regards  to  all.  Lord  bless  you.  Don't 
come  up.  London  is  as  warm  as  May,  and  as  dirty 
as  one  of  Dante's  hells ;   you'll  remember  which. 

"  Ever, 
"S.  B." 

Montagu  Williams  records  that  Shirley  caused  much 
amusement  at  this  party  by  playing  the  part  of  the 
dissatisfied  spectator,  who  is  always  picking  holes  in 
performers  and  performance. 

"  Jan.  Sth. 

*'  Up  at  9.30  (after  the  Levy's  party),  none  the  worse, 
but  not  much  inclined  to  work  or  go  out,  but  did  both. 
Had  promised  Cecil  to  take  him,  for  the  first  time,  to 
the  Tower.  He  was  not  very  well,  but  eager  to  go, 
so  we  went.  Rail  to  Moorgate  Street,  cab  to  near  the 
Tower.  The  usual  walk  round.  I  am  not  sure  that 
I  had  seen  the  chapel,  which  has  been  restored,  and  the 

328 


"YOUNG  LINLEY   SAMBOURNE " 

small  armoury  has  been  greatly  increased.  After  the 
regalia  and  the  prisons,  we  walked  to  Birch's,  where 
I  gave  him  refreshments,  and  to  rail,  home  by  J  p.  4, 
so  I  had  not  overdone  it  for  him.  But  he  was  still 
unwell,  and  E.  began  to  think  it  possible  scarlet  fever, 
now  much  about.  However,  he  was  better  next  day. 
This  kind  of  child  is  always  making  me  anxious,  while 
cubs  never  have  anything  the  matter  with  them.'* 

On  Jan.  9th,  he  records  :  "  Young  Linley  Sambourne, 
artist,  called;  he  is  to  do  Essence  initials.''  These 
had  been  done  by  Sir  John  Tenniel,  and  Charles 
Bennett  until  the  latter's  death  in  1867.  Bennett 
had  put  into  them  some  of  his  finest  work  and,  until 
Mr.  Sambourne  came  along,  had  had  no  worthy 
successor.  Later  on  he  alludes  to  ''  Sambo,"  and 
adds,  ''  this  is  Linley  Sambourne,  the  clever  young 
Punch  artist,  who  has  been  and  will  be  very  useful," 
a  prophecy  that  all  who  understand  the  superb  decora- 
tion of  a  page  know  to  have  been  more  than  amply 
justified. 

On  Jan.  11th  someone  else  was  prophesying  and,  as 
events  have  proved,  also  prophesying  rightly  : — 

*'  A  most  gratifying  letter  from  Frith  about  poor 
little  Mrs.  F.  Romer.^;j^He  has  seen  her  work  and  says 
she  has  remarkable  powers,  enough  with  industry  to 
make  her  well  to  do,  perhaps  famous,  and  he  adds  much 
more.  I  am  very  glad  to  have  been  the  means  of  getting 
her  such  encouragement — wrote  him  thereon." 
"  Jan.  12th. 

l^'  Tenniel  has  done  my  big  cut  nobly,  on  a  double 
block — *  Gladstone  Sacrificing  the  Irish  Church  to 
Justice,  not  to  Papists  and  Assassins.'  This  cut 
should  make  a  sensation." 

329 


SHIRLEY   BROOKS 

"Jan.  13th. 

''  E.  rowed  me  for  making  jokes  with  Mrs.  Sothern, 
as  unbecoming  '  at  my  age.'     Something  in  that.'* 
"  Jan.  15th. 

"  To  Co  vent  Garden  Theatre,  and  bought,  as  last 
year,  a  box  for  the  pantomime.  They  won't  give 
anything  now,  yet  it  is  churhsh,  considering  how  well 
Punch  serves  them.  M.  L.  and  I  were  both  refused 
at  Drury  Lane.  All  managers  nearly  are  vulgar 
tradesmen  here — in  Paris  they  are  better.  But  it  does 
not  matter,  once  a  year." 

"  Jan.  16th. 

"  Poor  E.  suffering  with  rheumatism  in  shoulders. 
Rubbed  her  with  liniment,  and  so  to  bed." 

"  Jan.  ISth  (the  boys  having  gone  to  school). 

"  Letter  from  Sims  Reeves,  who  says,  '  How  splen- 
didly you  are  helping  me  (about  the  Musical  Pitch,  now 
fighting),  and  I  thank  you  from  the  bottom  of  my 
heart.'*  D.  at  home.  House  beastly  quiet ;  we  miss 
the  boys,  of  course,  more  than  they  miss  us.  I  hope 
so." 

"  Jan.  19ih. 

"  Thanks  from  Robertson,  dramatist.  And  dear 
old  Sims  Reeves,  in  return  for  services  for  which  he 
again  thanks  me,  sends  me  a  ring,  emeralds  and 
brilliants,  set  clear.  I  do  so  many  good-natured 
things  without  even  thanks,  that  these  recognitions 
by  him  (I  have  had  two  others)  are  the  more  pleasant. 
Wrote  him.  .  .  . 

"  Quite  a  day  of  gifts,  for  in  addition  to  the  ring, 
there  came  to  me  from  H.  Dixon  *  Her  Majesty's 
Tower,'  and  from  Macmillan  '  Miss  Martineau's 
Sketches,'  and  Maclaren's  book,  and  [Emily  calling  on 

♦  Vide  "  A  Jarring  Note,"  Punch,  Jan.  16th,  p.  20. 

330 


HARRIET   MARTINEAU 

Mrs.  Bensusan,  was  on  parting  surprised  at  having 
a  little  gold  or  gilt  box  slipped  into  her  hand/* 

Harriet  Martineau's  "  Biographical  Sketches  '*  had 
just  been  republished,  edited  by  Mr.  (afterwards  Sir) 
J.  R.  Robinson,  and  Shirley,  as  I  learn  from  the  follow- 
ing letter  kindly  lent  me  by  Mr.  George  Dunlop,  was 
prompt,  in  his  review  of  the  book  in  the  Illustrated 
London  News,  to  make  some  ingenious  emendation. 

(Sir)  J.  R.  Robinson  to  S.  B. 

*' '  Daily  News  '  Office, 
"  London, 

''Jan.  25th,  1869. 

*'  My  dear  Sir, 

'*  I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  the  correction 
in  Miss  M.*s  work.  On  the  whole,  though  the  suggestion 
you  make  is  ingenious,  I  will  alter  the  *  d '  to  '  h ' 
instead  of  reading  it  '  dad.'  I  have  had  a  great  deal 
of  trouble  with  the  work,  as  the  material  was  in  all 
sorts  of  printers'  errors,  etc.  It  was  not  easy,  moreover, 
to  give  descriptive  marginal  notes  with  pages  that  are 
so  small.  I  could  get  no  one  to  take  the  slightest 
interest  in  the  matter.  Indeed,  I  was  thought  to  be 
in  a  mistake.  One  impartial  critic  says  they  are 
'  worthless,'  but  I  am  glad  to  see  from  your  note  that 
you  do  not  agree  with  him.  The  work  will  be  out  of 
print  in  a  few  days  and  another  edition  will  be  got 
ready  at  once.  Macmillan  has  behaved  most  fairly 
— for  one  of  his  nationality,  I  should  say  most 
generously — to  Miss  M.  in  the  matter. 

'*  Yours,  dear  Sir, 

''  Very  truly, 

*'  J.  R.  Robinson. 
''  S.  Brooks,  Esq.'' 

331 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

On  the  publication  of  his  review  Shirley  sent  a  copy 
to  the  aged  authoress,  and  received  the  following  reply 
at  the  hands  of  her  niece  : — 

Miss  Jane  Martineau  to  S.  B. 

"  The  Knoll, 

"  Ambleside. 

'Teh.  2nd,  1869. 

"  My  dear  Sir, 

*'  It  is  true,  as  you  inferred,  that  my  aunt  is  unable 
to  bear  the  fatigue  of  much  writing  with  her  own  pen, 
but  she  cannot  let  such  kindness  as  you  have  shown 
slip  by  without  some  acknowledgment.  I  am,  there- 
fore, glad  to  be  asked  by  her  to  send  you  her  best 
thanks  for  your  letter  with  its  enclosure.  She  begs 
me  to  say  that  she  had  read  your  notice  in  the  Illus- 
trated News  with  pleasure  and  great  gratification,  with- 
out knowing  who  had  written  it,  and  now  of  course 
your  letter  adds  to  the  interest.  My  aunt  is  pleased 
to  hear  about  your  two  sons.  Your  mention  of 
Mr.  Lucas  brings  back  many  recollections  to  my  aunt's 
mind.  She  felt  great  interest  in  him,  but  never  heard 
particulars  about  him  latterly ;  that  he  lost  his  mind 
was  all  she  knew.  The  bringing  out  of  the  'Sketches' 
has  been  the  means  of  her  having  the  pleasure  of  making 
close  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Robinson,  to  whom  she 
feels  grateful  for  all  he  has  so  kindly  done  for  her. 
My  aunt  is  still  weak  after  her  late  more  serious 
attack  of  illness.     Her  kind  regards, 

'*  And  believe  me, 

"  Yours  truly, 
"  Jane  S.  Martineau. 
*'  Shirley  Brooks,  Esq." 


AN  ABOMINABLE  SHOW 

*'  Jan.  21s/. 

'*  Club,  and  thence  to  dine  with  P r.     Only  8  of 

us,  which  is  the  right  number.  Taylor,  Fladgate, 
O'Dowd,  Vilmy,  self,  host,  and  two  military  parties. 
A  perfect  dinner,  and  wine  to  match.  His  picture 
gallery  has  been  enriched  with  some  new  abominations, 
some  concealed  behind  decorous  ones,  and  revealed 
by  a  spring.  I  hate  these  ;  did  so  when  young  and 
luxurious.  In  almost  any  other  man  than  P.  the 
characteristic  would  be  offensive,  but  he  looks  such 
a  picture  himself  that  somehow  one  forgets  that  a  man 
of  60  ought  not  to  be  showman  to  a  gallery  of  lechery. 
And  he  is  a  very  kindly  fellow.  S.,  Elmore,  and 
Whistler  have  inspected  his  collection  with  much 
satisfaction.  One  work,  of  a  whipping  by  women, 
was  fine  in  spite  of  its  brutality,  and  so  was  the  face  of 
a  girl  holding  up  a  dog  on  her  feet,  in  bed.  Such 
things  have  no  effect  on  me,  perhaps  I  am  cold.'' 
"  Jan.  24th. 

'*  Took  some  pains  to  improve  L.  Romer's  verses — 
dare  say  she  will  not  be  thankful,  but  I  have  improved 
them.'' 

''Jan.  25th. 

''  Letter  from  Robert  Buchanan,  the  poet,  also  thanks 
for  a  mention  in  Punch  of  his  readings.  Slept  down- 
stairs again,  and  for  the  first  time  in  one  of  two  gaily 
painted  beds  which  E.  thought  it  necessary  to  get  from 
Jackson  and  Graham — cheap,  however.  Wonder 
whether  this  bed  will  be  my  penultimate  one.  Bound 
Ben  Jonson  and  other  books  in  some  new  stuff  called 
Chartapellicia.  I  am  rather  fond  of  making  my  books 
tidy.  As  Joseph  Surface  says,  *  Books,  Sir  Peter,  are 
the  only  things  I  am  a  coxcomb  in.'  " 

Amongst  Shirley's  early  friends  had  been  Ernest 
Jones,  barrister.  Chartist  and  poet.     Shirley  was  in  no 

333 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

sympathy  with  his  advanced  views,  but  this  did  not 
prevent  him  from  penning  the  following  generous 
tribute  to  the  man  in  the  Illustrated  London  News : — 

"  The  death  of  Mr.  Ernest  Jones,"  he  wrote,  ''  at 
the  moment  when  his  long  struggle  for  what  he  regarded 
as  popular  rights  was  rewarded  by  his  selection  as 
candidate  for  the  great  city  in  the  north-west,  seems 
to  me  to  call  for  a  few  words  here.  I  confine  them, 
however,  to  circumstances  within  my  own  knowledge. 
I  had  a  warm  friendship  for  Mr.  Ernest  Jones  in  the 
days  when  his  chief  pursuit  was  literature,  and,  though 
his  political  career  sundered  him  from  the  friends  of 
his  youth,  it  could  not  destroy  in  those  who  had  really 
known  him  a  strong  interest  in  his  welfare.  Let  me 
say,  for  the  information  of  the  many  who  know  nothing 
of  him  save  that  he  had  been  a  Chartist,  had  been 
imprisoned  for  the  mode  in  which  he  proclaimed  his 
faith  and  was  to  the  last  an  advocate  of  extreme  views, 
as  we  call  them,  that  in  earlier  life  there  was  no  more 
delightful  a  companion,  no  more  thorough  a  gentleman, 
no  more  accomplished  an  ornament  to  society  (as  the 
old  phrase  goes)  than  Ernest  Jones.  He  was  full  of 
geniality  and  playful  fancy,  and  those  who  may  collect 
his  poetry  will  be  surprised  as  well  as  charmed  by  the 
grace  of  his  lyrics.  I  may  add — it  is,  alas  !  no  intrusion 
now  upon  private  topic — that  he  was  singularly  happy 
in  his  domestic  relations,  and  his  home  was  one  of 
grace  and  refinement.  He  sacrificed  himself  and  his 
social  position  for  the  sake  of  convictions,  for  which  he 
suffered  long,  and  has  died  early.  And  he  refused  a 
competence  that  was  to  be  the  price  of  his  foregoing 
politics.  I  hold  both  his  course  and  his  convictions 
to  have  been  mistakes  ;  but  I  cannot  see  the  tomb  close 
over  him  without  bearing  my  earnest  testimony — it 
will  have  value  for  those  who  were  acquainted  with  us 

334 


MRS.   STOWE  AND  LORD   BYRON 

in  other  days — to  the  affectionate  nature,  the  varied 
accompHshments,  and  the  indisputable  sincerity  of 
him  who  now  hes  in  Ardwick  Cemetery,  near 
Manchester/' 

"  Jan.  21th, 

"  M.  L.  in  Scotland,  so  took  the  chair — a  full  attend- 
ance, and  we  hammered  out  a  good  cut  on  the  Overend 
and  Gurney  case,  in  which,  by  the  way,  the  two 
Gurneys,  and  four  other  eminent  City  gentlemen  were 
to-day  *  Committed  for  trial '  by  the  Mayor  and 
Gabriel.  '  Queer  times,*  as  J.  W.  Davison  says  in  a 
note/' 

The  cut  represented  a  ruined  shareholder  saying 
to  his  daughter,  "  Yes,  they  are  committed  for  trial; 
but  we,  my  child,  to  hard  labour  for  life'' 

**  Jan.  3\st. 

*'  At  I  past  5  we  went  to  d.  with  Crowdy — short 
notice,  to  eat  canvassbacks.  No  one  else.  Long  and 
pleasant  chat  with  him,  over  smoke.  His  conviction — 
we  spoke  among  a  hundred  things  of  Lord  Byron — 
is  that  the  cause  of  separation  was  B.'s  incest  with 
Mrs.  L.  Told  me  that  Murray  had  a  box  of  letters  of 
B/s,  deposited  by  her,  on  which  he  advanced  sums 
amounting  to  £500  or  so,  and  offered  on  her  death, 
she  being  poor,  to  give  up  his  claims  on  the  chance  of 
the  box  containing  something  worth  having.  But 
the  daughter  would  not  hear  of  it — the  letters  must  not 
be  touched,  and  asked  time  to  satisfy  claim  ;  on  which 
he  very  generously  gave  up  both  box  and  debt.  Should 
like  to  hear  the  opinion  of  a  distinguished  Hterary 
friend  on  this  story.*' 

"  Curious  this,"  he  adds  in  a  note  on  Nov.  8th,  ''  for 
later  in  the  year  Mrs.  Stowe,  in  Macmillan,  proclaimed 
the  story,  and  for  months  there  was  a  fierce  row.  Now, 
people  do  not  believe  the  charge." 

335 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

Nevertheless,  as  we  know,  the  sordid  controversy  has 
again  been  re-opened  with  no  imaginable  advantage 
either  to  history  or  to  morals. 

•'  Feb.  1st. 

"  Found  messenger  had  been  from  B.  &  E.  about  a 
word  in  a  song  of  T.  Taylor* s  this  week,  in  which  he 
had  called  the  Overend  and  G.  folks  '  rogues,'  and 
this  had  frightened  them.  All  rubbish — wrote  T.  T., 
and  next  day  W.  B.  thereon.  Rego  has  again  been 
seen  by  Barker,  who  is  quite  satisfied  so  long  as  the 
abscess  runs,  but  desires  to  be  sent  for  instantly  should 
it  stop  suddenly.  Poor  child.  He  said  a  grave  sweet 
thing  at  night,  when  his  mother  was  wishing  for  a  long 
life  of  happiness,  *  What  is  that,  mamma,  compared 
to  an  eternity  of  happiness  ?  '  I  fear  this  is  the  first 
word  of  Christian  religion  that  has  been  spoken  in  our 
house — yet,  we  are  grateful  to  God.*' 

Notwithstanding  Shirley's  opinion  the  word  "rogues** 
was  omitted  from  "  Overend  and  Gurney  (A  Promoter's 
Protest).** 

"  Feb.  5th. 

"  Read  that  Keeley  had  died  on  Wednesday,  He 
had  long  been  worn  out.  What  curious  passages  in 
my  life  connect  themselves  with  him  and  his  !  Some 
fun,  and  some  profit,  too.  I  might  have  been  one  of 
the  sons-in-law  mentioned  to-day,  but  'tis  an  uncommon 
deal  better  as  it  is.*' 

*'  A  newspaper  cutting  of  the  day  says  : — 
*' '  During  Mr.  Keeley* s  lesseeship  of  the  Lyceum, 
Mr.  Shirley  Brooks  furnished  him  with  several  cha- 
racters, in  each  of  which  the  comedian  made  a  hit. 
The  most  successful  were  Bokes,  a  kind-hearted  but 
irascible  Jew  (*  The  Creole  *) ;  Bottles,  a  doctor's  boy, 
given  to  dangerous  experiments  in  surgery  ('  Honours 

336 


MR.   JUSTICE  BLACKBURN  AND  THE  DEVIL 

and  Tricks  ') ;  and  Ehenezer  Scroop,  a  lachrymose  poet, 
who  had  made  himself  extremely  miserable  by  the 
study  of  his  own  writings  ('  New  Governess  ').  In  the 
part  of  Dulcimer  (in  '  The  Guardian  Angel '),  by  the 
same  author,  Mr.  Keeley  was  very  effective  ;  this, 
however,  was  at  the  Haymarket,  in  a  portraiture  of  an 
enriched  and  foolish,  but  not  bad-hearted  snob, 
affectionately  watched  over  by  Mrs.  Keeley,  as  a 
housemaid,  in  whom  he  had  inspired  a  passion." 

"  Feh.  1th. 

"  At  6.30  we  had  the  Yateses,  Sala  (first  time)  and 
Mrs.  Linton  to  dinner,  and  all  went  off  well.  Sala 
told  many  good  stories — one  of  a  whist-party,  com- 
posed of  Justice  Blackburn,  Kenneth  Macaulay, 
dummy,  and  the  Devil,  and  after  the  second  game  the 
last  party  threw  up  his  cards,  declaring  that  he  was 
not  used  to  such  language,  and  must  draw  the  line 
somewhere.*' 

"  Feb.  m. 

''  Reading  Miss  de  la  Ramee's  *  '  Idaha,*  terrible 
rubbish,  yet  much  of  it  readable." 

"  Feb.  lOth. 

"  Punch  d.  Left  8.30,  home  to  dress,  and  at  10  we 
were  on  the  stage  of  the  Prince  of  Wales's  Theatre,  f 
Prettily  fitted  up.  We  were  early.  Dancing.  At  12 
curtain  drew,  and  showed  the  pit,  laid  out  very  bril- 
liantly with  supper.  Took  in  Mrs.  Stirling,  and  sat 
between  her  and  Mrs.  Steele.  Plenty  of  wine,  good, 
for  I  have  no  headache.  Boucicault  proposed  the 
Bancrofts,  B.  the  company  ;    Hare,  Robertson — that 

*   "Ouida." 

f  This  was,  of  course,  during  the  brilhant  management  of  the 
Bancrofts  at  the  old  Prince  of  Wales's  Theatre,  the  home  of 
Robertson  comedy. 

337 

23— (2297) 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

was  all.  Yates  was  voted  vulgar  for  calling  out  to 
Lawson  to  get  out  of  a  private  box,  but  I  really  saw 
only  a  joke,  but  am  told  he  was  vicious,  Y.,  at  listening 
to  the  story  of  success  when  he  had  been  d — d. 
He  had  better,  perhaps,  have  stayed  away.  Sir  B. 
and  Lady  Lennard,  Sir  W.  Fergusson,  Arthur  and 
Mrs.  Lewis,  Mrs.  Steele,  Mrs.  Fitzwilliam,  Mrs.  C. 
Matthews,  Mrs.  Burnand,  V.  Prinsep,  Bancrofts,  Hare, 
Addison,  Miss  Herbert  (was  introduced  to  her),  Walter 
Lacy,  Sefton  Parry,  P.  Simpson,  Robertson  and  Miss 
Madge*  (engaged,  I  think,  to  Kendal),  Chippendales, 
Hollingshead,  Clarke,  Boucicault,  Albert  Levy, 
Montagu  and  a  lot.  Rather  '  mixed,'  as  a  body  might 
say,  but  we  are  too  old  to  be  hurt.  Cigar  in  green 
room.  Bed  by  3.  E.  said  she  had  been  bored — I  don*t 
think  I  was.'* 

''  Feh.  nth, 

''  Not  much  concerned  to  work.  At  J  to  4  at 
Grindlay's,  where  were  ready  for  us  Low,  Mr.  Thomas, 
engineer  to  the  L.  C.  &  Dover,  and  a  carriage.  So  to 
Low's — ^bad  hills  on  that  road — and  dined  at  5.  Mrs. 
L.'s  father  came.  After  smoke  came  to  the  drawing- 
room  some  two-dozen  members  of  a  Book  Society,  and, 
tea  over,  'we'  proceeded  to  discuss  the  question  whether 
the  Church  of  England  ought  to  remain  endowed. 
Low  opened  in  the  affirmative.  The  others  were  mostly 
Dissenters,  and  talked  the  usual  old  high-flown  twaddle, 
and  petty  jeers,  which  I  remember  for  30  years.  I  did 
not  mean  to  speak,  but  Low  urged  it  so  much  that  I  said 
a  few  words  about  the  value  of  the  Church  as  a  police, 
and  the  advantage  of  having  in  every  parish  one  man 
bound  to  decency  and  honour.  Likened  the  Dissenters 
to  the  servants  (Dean  Swift),  with  a  common  enemy, 

*  Miss  Madge  Robertson  (now  Mrs.  Kendal). 

338 


STORY  OF  THE  DUKE  OF  SUSSEX 

master  and  mistress.  Very  much  bored,  but  sat  it 
out — Low  got  his  motion  by  7  to  6.  E,  much  fatigued 
and  eager  to  get  home,  because  of  Rego,  but  we  could 
not  get  off  till  the  11.14  train — wet — home  by  12.15. 
I  was  glad  to  oblige  L.  by  our  going,  but  should  have 
preferred  dinner  at  7,  and  no  Dissenters/' 

"  Feh.  ISth. 

*'  Wrote  Sala  that  Napoleon  was  a  failure  even  in  his 
own  bloody  and  brutal  profession — kicked  out  of 
Russia,  Spain,  France,  and  transported  for  life." 

"  Feb.  22nd. 

"  Garrick  at  5.30  to  meet  Sherard  Osborne,  who  took 
me  to  Willis's  Rooms  to  dine  with  the  Geographical 
Club.  An  interesting  meeting.  Sir  Andrew  Waugh 
in  chair.  Murchison's  wife  having  died,  we  drank  her 
memory  '  in  solemn  silence.'  Somebody  told  me  that 
when  Sir  Roderick  was  made  a  baronet,  she  said  she 
wished  she  could  die,  that  he  might  marry  and  have 
a  successor.  A  pretty  story,  but  I  see  the  honour  was 
given  in  1866,  when  he  was  74.  Sat  next  to  Lord 
Houghton,  who  had  some  good  stories — said  he  heard 
the  Duke  of  Sussex  tell  Parry  (Arctic)  in  a  hot  room 
that  the  atmosphere  was  not  like  what  he  had  left  at 
the  North,  but  must  rather  remind  him  of  the  South 
Pole.  .  .  . 

''  At  8  to  British  Institution,  where  the  G.  S.  meet 
at  present,  and  heard  a  long  paper  by  Commander 
Davis,  who  was  out  with  Captain  Ross,  on  Antarctic 
discovery,  and  the  place  whence  to  observe  the  transit 
of  Venus  in  1882.  Sir  James  Andersen  was  there, 
and  the  paper  was  amply  discussed.  ...  I  did  not 
stay  for  the  last  admiral.  .  .  .  Transit  in  1882 ! 
Where  shall   I   be  ?     Transitted,   perhaps — yet  I  am 

only  ^3^  —  66.     As  God  wiU." 

339 


SHIRLEY   BROOKS 

"  Feb.  24ih. 

''  Heard  from  and  wrote  Sala.  We  throw  away  a 
deal  of  copy  this  way,  yet  it  is  pleasant,  and  one  must 
have  some  amusement.  I  have  little  enough.  Wrote 
H.  N*  Walked  in,  called  '  Bedford,'  saw  L.  Romer, 
who  is  prospering,  and  has  a  promise  of  £20  for  a 
picture — I  hope  she  will  live  to  laugh  at  the  pleasure 
with  which  she  told  this.  On  to  Alsatia.  I  urged 
vehemently  that  the  next  cut,  which  will  come  when 
the  country  will  be  full  of  Gladstone's  speech,  should 
be  on  the  Church,  though  we  usually  wait  to  let  topics 
soak  into  the  pubhc  mind.  It  was  agreed  to,  but  we 
had  much  trouble  in  hitting  on  a  theme,  so  I  suggested 
Protestantism,  freed  from  chains,  rising  like  an  angel, 
or  that  one  in  the  ^  Hermit,'  and  delighting  Ireland. 
Leigh  d — d  Protestantism,  but  something  like  my 
notion  was  agreed  to." 

The  resulting  cut  was  entitled,  ''  The  End  of  the 
'  Tempest,'  "  and  represented  Gladstone  (as  Prospero,) 
[with  Ireland  hanging  on  his  arm,]  disendowing  and 
disestablishing  ''  Protestantism,"  with  the  words,  ''  Be 
free,  and  fare  thee  well." 

In  March,  1869,  Shirley  was  down  with  a  bad  attack 
of  gout,  but,  though  confined  to  bed,  he  did  not  allow 
his  work  to  suffer,  having  a  great  objection,  in  his  own 
words,  *'  to  throwing  other  folks  out  of  gear  merely 
because  I  am  so."  The  doctor  treated  him  with  morphia 
with  the  following  result  : — 

"  March  14th. 

**  In  bed  nearly  all  day,  chiefly  reading  Ben  Jonson, 
but  up  to  dinner.     Frith  came,  and  Fred  Evans.     One 

*  Home  News. 

340 


STORY  OF  A  LOST  CHEQUE 

of  these  nights  had  the  oddest  dream  [morphia]  that 
one  of  the  tea-fleet  was  called  the  Shout,  and  that  there 
was  war  between  the  United  States  and  some  other 
power  on  the  way  from  China.  The  Shout  must  go 
out  of  her  way  to  fight  (having  canister  and  gunpowder, 
but  I  think  this  facetiousness  was  when  I  was  waking) 
and  got  taken.  I,  who  could  be  in  all  ships,  and  all 
over  the  world  at  once,  goes  to  the  American  captain, 
and  told  him  a  young  lady  would  break  her  heart  if  her 
lover,  captain  of  the  Shout,  did  not  win.  *  Wal,'  he 
says,  *  I  guess  I'll  let  him  go,  as  you  say  it,  and  youVe 
always  been  a  friend  to  our  nation,  but  he  can't  win 
the  d — d  race  now.'  Well,  I  said  I  thought  he  could, 
if  the  American  would  lend  him  a  fast  frigate  to  tow 
him  up  into  his  place,  and  range  him  with  the  others, 
and  this  the  Yankee  most  good-naturedly  did.  Aegri 
somnia,  but  this  is  a  little  more  coherent  than  most, 
and  certainly  has  pes  and  caput'' 

**  March  ISth. 

"  Had  my  hair  cut — always  a  proof  of  convalescence, 
except  once,  of  which  I  shall  know  nothing  !  " 

"  March  2lsL    (At  Crawley  with  the  Lemons.) 

"  Slept  well,  sending  myself  off  with  some  imaginary 
dialogue  with  an  impossible  widow,  whose  idea  was 
given  me  by  a  description  of  an  excessively  possible 
one  whom  I  met  in  the  flesh  on  the  Saturday.  That 
is  the  way  to  get  ideals." 
"  March  31st. 

'*  Slept  elegantly,  but  dreamt  I  had  to  bury  Reginald 
Heber,  whose  body  was  sent  to  me  in  a  package  to  the 
Era  office,  and  I  did  it  with  the  utmost  decorum,  and 
told  my  father  thereof.  There's  a  pretty  kettle  of  mad 
fish  for  you." 

•'  April  12th. 
'*  Odd  thing.     Crawled  upstairs  to  sign  a  cheque  for 

341 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

E.  £\2.  Brought  it  down.  Saw  her  take  it  from 
mantelpiece,  in  fact  cautioned  her  not  to  smear  it, 
as  she  was  folding  it.  From  that  moment  it  vanished. 
I  suppose  it  got  among  some  of  her  letters,  and  was  laid 
away  by  mistake.  Fred  Evans  called  to-day  and 
informed  me  that  Mr.  Bradbury  (WiUiam)  died  last 
night.  So,  '  is  old  Double  (he  was  that)  gone  at  last  ?  ' 
Well,  when  he  had  Punch,  I  had  many  civilities  from 
him.  He  had  the  sense  to  know  my  value,  and  the 
grace  to  show  it.*' 

Touching  the  cheque,  he  records  four  years  later  in 
red  ink  : — 

**  I  was  nearly  right.  She  put  it  into  a  novel,  '  In 
Silk  Attire,'  where  it  was  found  by  Reginald,  Nov.  13th, 
1873." 

"  April  I3lh. 

"  Duplex*  don't  show — he  has  neuralgia — but  might 
have  sent  a  line.  I  go  on  taking  his  medicine,  and  am 
saturated  with  morphia,  which  makes  me  drunk. 
I  suppose  myself  to  be  sober,  but  the  night  visions 
come  with  a  curious  double-ness.  This  won't  do — so 
stop  the  morphia.  But  do  my  work,  did  '  N.  in  P.'f 
with  much  ease  in  bed  to-day,  and  write  letters,  so  I 
suppose  the  will  is  dominant.  Comes,  introduced  by 
George  Russell,  Mr.  Marwood  Tucker,  a  new  editor  of 
the  Globe.  Wants  me.  Could  not  see  him,  but  sent 
him  down  a  civil  note — we'll  see — but  these  Tories 
know  nothing  of  newspaper  work.  E.  saw  him,  and 
he  made  quite  a  fuss  about  a  set  of  '  sketches  '  he 
has  got  from  somebody — neat  and  washy,  and  not  of 
the  faintest  use." 

*  The  doctor. 

f  "  Nothing  in  the  Papers,"  the  title  of  his  weekly  column  in  the 
Illustrated  London  News. 

342 


ENCOURAGEMENT 

Mrs.  Romer's  first  picture  in  oils  had  failed  to  find 
a  place  on  the  walls  of  the  Academy.  Whilst  its 
fate  was  still  in  the  balance  he  had  written  with  his 
customary  thoughtfulness  : — 

S.  B.  TO  Mrs.  F.  Romer  (Mrs.  Jopling  Rowe). 

"  Saturday. 

"  My  dear  Mrs.  Frank, 

*'  Thanks  for  kind  enquiries.  I  have  had  rather 
a  troublesome  ten  days  of  it,  but  am  much  better  and 
hope  to  be  all  right  very  soon.  I  have  been  able  to 
do  my  work  regularly,  so  I  suppose  there  was  not  a 
great  deal  really  the  matter,  only  the  doctors  are 
stronger  than  the  fish  that  swallowed  Jonah,  and  when 
they  have  got  you  down,  they  keep  you  down. 

**  I  know  not  whether  you  have  yet  heard  the  fortune 
of  your  picture,  but  if  it  be  the  wrong  way,  you  must 
be  in  no  sort  discouraged,  for  I  heard  yesterday  they 
were  '  slaughtering  more  mercilessly  than  usual.' 
Of  course  it  will  be  a  disappointment,  but  as  Clarence 
says — 

*  That  thee  is  sent  accept  in  buxomness, 
The  wresthng  of  this  world  asketh  a  fall,' 

and  you  have,  as  you  have  been  told  by  more  competent 
authority  than  myself,  the  future  in  your  own  hands. 
But  I  will  not  anticipate  what  may  not  happen,  only 
I  wish  you  to  arm  yourself  against  any  temporary 
ill-luck  by  conviction  that  it  can  only  be  temporary. 
**  Sir  Edwin's  great  picture  of  *  Eagles  Fighting 
Swans  in  a  Scotch  Lake  '  is  described  to  me  as  the  most 
splendid  thing  he  has  done  for  years.  I  saw  a  good 
many  pictures — Leighton's  are  beautiful,  especially 
one  exquisite  nymph  rising  from  the  sea,  roses  under 

343 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

her  feet,  to  meet  the  embrace  of  the  Sun-god.*     It  is 
perfect. 

''  Again  thanks  for  thinking  of  me.  I  hope  we  shall 
soon  meet  and  that  I  shall  hear  good  news. 

"  Always  yours  faithfully, 

**  Shirley  Brooks.*' 

Later,  when  Mrs.  Romer  had  been  asked  to  send  the 
picture  to  an  exhibition  which  had  been  arranged  as  a 
protest  against  Burlington  House  exclusiveness,  she 
wisely  asked  Shirley's  advice.     This  was  his  answer : — 

S.  B.  TO  Mrs.  F.  Romer  (Mrs.  Jopling  Rowe). 

{Whit-Tuesday,  1869.) 

**  My  dear  Mrs.  Frank, 

''  I  should  not,  were  I  you,  enter  the  ranks  of  the 
Rejected,  when  you  are  in  the  regiment  of  Postponed. 
At  all  events  I  would  wait  another  year  ;  '  the  world 
is  to  him  (or  her)  who  knows  how  to  wait.'  Of  course, 
there  is  such  a  thing  as  waiting  too  long,  but  you  can 
perfectly  well  afford  a  pause.  That  is  my  opinion, 
and  I  fancy  it  will  be  that  of  the  best  of  your  friends. 
On  Whit-Monday,  yesterday  in  fact,  I  took  the  boys 
to  the  Academy.  I  feared  a  crowd,  but  it  was  a  mild 
one,  with  ten  times  as  many  pretty  faces  as  you  see 
on  an  aristocratic  day,  and  we  managed  very  well. 
I  have  made  up  my  mind  that  it  is  by  no  means  a 
first-rate  exhibition.     There  ! 

'*  We  (Punch)  dine  at  Hampton  Court  to-morrow, 
which  will  be  pleasant  if  the  weather  holds  up,  but  I 
have  not  much  hope.  As  Benedict  has  sent  us  a 
couple  of  guinea  stalls  for  the  Rossini  Mass  in  the 
afternoon,  I  shall  try  to  hear  that  first — not  that  I 
know  much  about  music  (or  anything  else),  but  it  is 
a  thing  to  have  done. 

*  Helios  and  Rhodes. 

344 


GENEROSITY 

"  But  this  is  by 

"  Mr.  Brooks  :— 
"  '  If  you  were  an  invalid,  and  you  went  by  Sir  John 
Falstaff  in  the  street,  why  ought  you  to  be  condoled 
with  ?     Because  you  would  not  have  passed  a  good 
knight/ 

*'  I  send  you  a  photograph — I  have  no  idea  who  it  is, 
but  the  face  is  pretty,  and  you  may  like  to  have  it. 
It  was  '  not  to  be  given  away,'  so  I  give  it  to  you. 

*'  Ever  yours  faithfully, 

''  S.  B.^' 

"  A-pril  nth. 

**  Wrote  the  memorial  of  Mr.  Bradbury  for  Punch, 
M.  L.  writes  that  *  W.  B.  is  mightily  touched  thereby, 
and  it  may  be  remembered.'    May  be  ?  " 

The  following  refers  to  one  of  his  many  charities, 
of  which  he  said  little  : — 

•'  April  I9th. 

**  The  point  is  about  the  deserted  boy,  — ,  whom 
Mr.  D.  can  get  into  a  school  for  two  years,  if  I  will 
pay  him  from  £26  to  £30.  It  seems  only  humane 
to  give  the  poor  lad  a  start  in  life,  so  I  assented,  but 
wished  the  money  to  be  paid  by  instalments — if  one 
lets  these  folk  know  one  has  a  shilling,  they  will  grab 
at  elevenpence,  and  look  at  the  odd  penny  as  if  one 
was  a  churl  to  keep  it/' 

"  April  21sL 

"  Where  will  our  Courts  of  Law  be  built  ?  Heavy 
debate  thereon  last  night,  and  Bob  Lowe  has  a  plan 
for  getting  to  the  Embankment.  The  lawyers  oppose. 
But  the  clever  cuss  frightens  the  House  with  the 
£4,000,000  which  he  says  the  present  Carey  St.  scheme 
will  cost.     Temple  Bar  must  grin — it  is  not  doomed 

345 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

yet  ....  Dined  Punch — pleasant  evening.  I  sug- 
gested the  cut  about  the  Law  Courts.*  .  .  .  Arch- 
bishop Manning  remonstrates  against  my  article  in  the 
Illustrated.]     I  will  go  at  him  again." 

[Note  added  in  red  ink  :  ] 

''  Did,  in  Punch — so  there's  half-a-million  readers  of 
the  fray.'' 

"  April  21th. 

'*  Looked  into  National  Gallery,  now  entirely  given 
up  to  the  nation's  pictures.  They  are  beautifully 
arranged,  and  it  is  odd  to  see  in  the  '  great  room,' 
octagon,  and  other  chambers,  in  which  there  used  to  be 
such  a  crowd  of  modern  works,  the  calm  old  fellows, 
in  two  rows.  Wrote  Webster  for  an  Adelphi  box  for 
E.  She  says  that  while  under  morphia,  of  which  I 
fancy  I  took  more  than  enough,  I  said  unkind  things. 
God  knows  I  never  meant,  or  was  conscious  of  them — 
my  principal  remembrance  is  that  of  extreme  content 
with  her  and  all  things.  I  did  all  my  work  all  through 
the  time — and  well.  It  is  odd,  if  I  wandered — one 
night  I  know  I  was  a  little  mystified,  yet  I  seem  to 
remember  it  all,  even  now — they  exaggerate  a  little, 
perhaps,  and  I  am  usually  so  sedate    that  a  little 

*  The  cut  represented  Father  Thames  begging  Miss  **  Lex," 
"  Come,  build  by  me,  and  be  my  love,"  but,  as  we  know,  to  no 
purpose. 

f  In  this  article  Shirley  had  commented  severely  on  the  alleged 
language  of  Archbishop  Manning  to  a  Fenian  deputation.  This  he 
followed  up  with  an  article  in  Punch  entitled  "  An  Illustrated 
Archbishop,"  in  the  course  of  which  he  wrote  :  "In  old  days 
Christian  bishops  helped  Governments  to  suppress  crime.  If  the 
districts  in  Ireland,  red  with  assassination,  were  deprived  by  the 
CathoUc  spiritual  authorities  of  rehgious  rites  until  the  murderers 
were  in  gaol,  we  should  hear  no  more  of '  agrarian  outrages.'  " 

346 


THE  FRANK   ROMERS 

excitement  excited  more  notice  than  a  noisy  person's 
would.  However,  E.  knows  that  I  never  meant 
anything  to  pain  her — I  was  a  beast  if  I  had." 

"  April  30th. 

'*  At  3  to  Burhngton  House,  private  view  of  the 
Exhibition,  first  time  in  its  new  and  splendid  quarters. 
Not,  I  think,  a  first-rate  exhibition.  Landseer  noble. 
The  usual  mob  of  acquaintances.  We  shook  hands 
with  the  B.  of  Oxford,  who  was  looking  ill.  Princess 
Mary  of  Teck  was  being  shown  round  by  Leighton,  the 
future  President.     Shook  hands  with  a  deal  of  talent." 

In  May  the  Frank  Romers  had  established  themselves 
in  a  new  house  and  Shirley  wrote  : — 

S.  B.  TO  Mrs.  F.  Romer  (Mrs.  Jopling  Rowe). 

"  23rd  May,  1869. 

*'  My  dear  Mrs.  Frank, 

**  Accept  my  best  congratulations  on  your  once 
more  having  your  own  Lares  and  Penates  about  you. 
Nobody's  gods  are  so  pleasant  as  our  own.-gl  trust 
that  you  may  not  only  have  much  comfort|in  your 
new  abode,  but  that  out  of  it  may  proceed  such  work 
as  will  ere  long  translate  you  up  to  a  Studio,  if  that  be 
more  dignified  than  an  atelier.  Mine  I  call  a  Den^ 
wherein  I  *  privily  murder  the  innocent.'  I  dined  at 
the  '  Bedford '  last  night,  but  did  not  expect  to  see  you 
in  the  circumstances.  Allow  me  (and  don't  laugh — 
yes,  do)  to  send  you  by  post — it  will  either  follow,  or 
accompany  this — a  little  book  which  may  not  be 
unacceptable  to  a  young  housekeeper.  I  am  told 
that  it  is  trustworthy,  or  as  the  slip-slop  writers  say, 
rehable.  We  have  quite  a  library  of  such  works  .  .  . 
for  the  most  part  treated  with  contempt  by  the  cook 
of  the  period. 

**  Rossini,  of  course,  was  a  great  composer,  but,  a 

347 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

member  of  your  husband*  s  family  once  said  of  somebody 
else,  '  Talent  is  not  his  forte/  Prefix  *  sacred  musical* 
and  I  believe  that's  the  right  verdict  in  the  Rossini  case. 
But  I  don't  assume  a  right  of  judgment  in  that  art. 
The  *  Messe  '  will  be  pufied,  of  course.  Again  he  is 
dead,*  and  nobody's  interests  can  be  hurt  by  praising 
him.  When  you  are  settled,  I  shall  walk  over,  some 
midday,  or  when  most  convenient  to  you,  and  con- 
gratulate you  in  person.  I  know  the  region  quite  well, 
but  not  Shrewsbury  Road ;  what  is  it  near,  or  what 
does  it  turn  out  of  ?  Why  don't  I  look  at  the  map  ? 
says  you.  Because — or  rather,  I  have  looked  and  the 
road  is  not  marked. 

'*  '  Man  is  like  Don  Ferdinando,  and  cannot  do  more 
than  he  can  do,'  lines  I  never  understood,  and  believe 
to  be  mis-quoted. 

**  No,  I  answer  d'avance,  I  am  not  going  to  the  Derby. 
I  have  been.  Also,  I  do  not  care  about  the  Thursday 
headache,  for  if  one  does  not  take  too  much,  one  may 
as  well  stay  at  home.  One  may  come  home  sober  from 
anywhere  without  spending  three  or  four  guineas, 
besides  losing  bets  and  temper.  But  I  have  Prophesied 
— see  next  Punch, \  which  I  will  send  you.  .  .  . 

"  Very  faithfully, 

*'  Shirley  Brooks." 

Ditto  to  Ditto. 
''  My  dear  Mrs.  Frank, 

**  Whether  you  have  time  or  not,  go  down  to 
Messrs.  Agnew,  5  Waterloo  Place,  and  see  one  of  the 
finest  Sir  Joshuas  you  ever  will  see.  They  have  just 
bought  it,  and  it  will  be  there  for  a  few  days  only.  It 
is  a  large  work,  a  full-length  portrait  of  Miss  Johanna 

*  He  had  died  in  the  preceding  November. 

t  "  Punch's  Derby  Day,"  May  29th,  1869,  p.  217. 

348 


DISRAELrS   POST-PRANDIAL  BANTER 

Leigh,  who  about  1775  married  Mr.  Lloyd,  and  after- 
wards one  of  the  Beckfords.  She  is  in  a  classic  costume, 
sandals,  etc.,  inscribing  the  happy  Llo's  name  on  a  tree. 
Such  a  picture  !  Say  I — say  you  are  a  friend  of  mine, 
which  I  am  glad  to  believe  is  the  truth.  I  am  sure  you 
will  see  a  hundred  better  reasons  than  I  can  why  you 
should  be  glad  to  have  been  told  of  this. 

'*  In  haste, 

'*  Ever  yours, 

"  S.  B.'' 

"  May  1st. 

*'  Heard  from  Sala,  who  has  dedicated  a  book  to  me.* 
New  dress  suit.  In  which,  flowered  and  white-gloved, 
did  I  go  to  the  Academy  to  dinner.  Good  many  years 
since  I  first  set  boy's  foot  within  their  sacred  walls, 
then  those  of  Somerset  House.  Pleasant  to  have  a 
good  opportunity  of  looking  at  a  few  men  of  the  day, 
among  whom  one  wandered.  Gladstone,  Disraeli, 
Archbishop  Tait,  Lord  Lawrence,  Westbury,  Chelms- 
ford, Shaftesbury,  Russell.  Seated  near  Dr.  Quain, 
head  of  the  surgeons,  Webster,  artist.  Hawkshaw, 
Horsley,  Goodall,  Ansdell,  Durham — Millais,  next 
table.  Speeches  a  great  bore,  except  Disraeli,  who 
gave  just  the  proper  post-prandial  banter.  To  be  sure, 
nobody  could  hear  anything  else.  Excellent  dinner, 
well  served.  Pretty  sight — the  gas  flashing  up  upon 
all  the  gutter  and  show  at  mention  of  the  Queen. 
I  had  an  elaborate  Lewis  behind  me,  '  An  Intercepted 
Love-letter,'  so  I  studied  this  during  much  of  the 
spouting.  Sir  B.  Phillips  set  me  down  at  the  G., 
where  sat  an  hour,  and  home,  where  sat  till  near  1  when 
E.  came,  having  been  to  Boucicault's  play  and  supper, 

•  *  "  Rome  and  Venice." 

349 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

and  a  note  had  been  sent  to  bid  me  to  the  latter,  but 
I  missed  it  somehow. 

"  Note. — Writ  four  lines  on  Landseer^s  Eagle  * 
picture,  had  them  set  up  for  Punchy  and  gave  them  to 
Sir  E.  as  I  came  out.'* 

"  May  2nd. 

''  Another  picture  Sunday,  for  I  had  been  asked  by 
John  Pender  to  come  and  lunch  at  18  Arlington  Street, 
and  see  his  pictures.  Went.  Tom  Agnew  and  Barlow 
there,  and  some  more.  Interesting  house — sham 
Gothic.  H.  Walpole  was  born  there — see  about  this. 
Lantern — handsome  rooms.  He  has  a  wealth  of 
pictures — there  are  18  in  the  dining-room  for  which 
T.  A.  said  he  would  gladly  give  £20,000.  Two  noble 
Landseers — one.  Fox,  Dead  Deer,  and  Eagle — the  other. 
Shepherd  with  Sheep  Lost  in  Snow.  Such  a  John 
Phillip,  a  splendid  naked-legged  brown  girl,  very 
handsome,  putting  a  rose  in  her  hair,  as  she  sits  on  the 
ground,  and  looks  into  a  little  glass.  I  covet  this. 
A  glorious  Stanfield — Waves  on  a  great  rock,  and  bird 
flying  like  spray.  A  Turner.  Elmore's  Man  drawing 
curtain  to  show,  I  suppose,  a  faithless  woman  that  her 
lover  has  been  killed.  Frith — Gleaner  girl,  landscape 
of  it  by  Creswick.p^A  sweet  Etty — half-length  woman. 
Millais'  picture  of  Pender's  two  girls  (they  lunched) 
with  the  gold  fish  ;|'and  the  lady  relieving  the  Royalist 
in  the  tree — and  others,  and  upstairs  PhiUip's  great 
Spanish  Wake  and  the  dead  child  and  mournful  mother 
(this  is  to  be  engraved),  and  Holman  Hunt,  Cox, 
CoUins,  De  la  Roche  (small  and  dainty),  and  many 
more.  Really  a  fine  show,  and  a  good  house,  with  a 
back  view  to  B.  Palace.  A  young  Wm.  Pitt  in  the  hall, 
almost  handsome,  by  Gainsborough.*' 

*  "  The  Swannery  Invaded  by  Sea-E^les." 

350 


REBUS    LETTER    FROM    DU    MAURIER    TO     SHIRLEY    BROOKS 
IN    THE    POSSESSION    OF    THE    BIOGRAPHER 


:  c       c    c    ,'  c 


A    REBUS    LETTER    FROM    DU    MAURIER 

'  May  4th. 

"  Wrote  '  N.  in  P.*  [''  Nothing  in  the  Papers '']  a 
screed  against  unquahfied  critics  in  art.*' 

On  May  the  5th  he  writes  :  *'  Heard  from  Kiki  *  (du 
Maurier),  a  note  of  symbols — very  clever.  This  is 
only  worth  recording  because  by  one  of  those  curious 
chances  which  occur  to  those  who  are  on  the  look  out 
for  them,  the  letter  itself  was  washed  up  to  my  feet, 
so  to  speak,  in  an  Oxford  Street  bookseller's  shop,  just 
in  the  nick  of  time  to  be  here  reproduced.  I  leave  it 
to  the  reader  to  decipher.  Obviously  it  begins  '  My 
dear  Brooks,  I  cannot  hand  you,*  and  concludes 
'  yours  (ewers)  Kick-eye,'  but  what  is  the  translation 
of  the  third  hne  is  more  than  I  can  discover." 
"  May  1th. 

''  A  melancholy  satisfaction  in  getting  a  most  kind 
letter  from  poor  Mary  Munro.f  He  lives,  and  seems 
to  have  a  respite,  but  the  doctor  will  not  hold  out  hope 
of  '  more  than  a  few  months.'  But  he  is  in  his  new 
house.  Villa  de  la  Tourelle,  and  hes  on  a  sofa  on  the 
terrace,  enjoys  the  lovely  views,  and  even  models  a 
little.  If  he  is  to  die,  as  I  wrote  her  to-day,  in  reply, 
the  conditions  could  hardly  be  more  merciful.  She 
asks  for  Punch  and  papers.  I  should  have  thought  such 
things  would  have  poured  on  them  from  Inverness. 
But  I  sent  two  Punches,  and  a  paper  (this  next  day), 
and  I  will  take  care  he  gets  anything  I  think  can  amuse 
him.  In  contrast  with  the  dying  sculptor  came 
Ewing,  a  living  one,  full  of  strength  and  hope,  and 
with  the  same  patronage,  Sutherland,  etc.,  that  Munro 
had.     Asked  me  to  sit  to  him." 

*  Pronounced  Kickey. 

t  Alexander  Munro  died  at  Cannes  two  years  later.  He  did 
much  of  the  stone-carving  on  the  Houses  of  ParUament. 

351 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

"  May  %th. 

'*  Frith  in  ecstasies  with  something  I  have  writ  in 
the  Illustrated  J  about  critics  and  painters.*  '  Letters 
of  Gold/  And  they  ask  us  to  eat  with  them  to-morrow. 
We  have  no  engagement.  Then  Sala  sends  me  a  letter 
on  the  same  subject,  exactly  in  the  opposite  interest, 
declaring  that  painters  ought  to  be  demolished,  that 
they  are  vain  beasts,  and  half  of  them  ought  to  be 
breaking  stones.     Replied.*' 

:ie  4:  *  ♦ 

**  Letter  from  Hills,  that  Sir  E.  was  much  pleased 
with  my  civility.  Don't  mind  complimenting  him, 
for  he  is  a  great  man,  and  can  do  nothing  in  the  world 
for  me. 

''May  nth, 

*'  Such  a  capital  sketch  from  Kiki  of  me,  as  Planta- 
genet,  riding  down  a  penny  critic  (on  an  ass)  who  has 
stabbed  through  the  picture  of  a  noted  painter — 
allusion  to  my  article  in  Illustrated.'' 

"  May  17th.     (Whit-Monday.) 

*'  Rather  afraid  of  holiday  crowd,  but  we  took  R. 
and  C.  to  the  Royal  Academy.  Many  persons,  but  we 
could  see  all  that  we  desired.  Exceeding  well-dressed 
crowd,  and  some  very  pretty  faces,  many  more  than 
on  an  aristocratic  day.  The  middle  class  is  begotten 
by  the  middle  class,  not  by  footmen  and  fiddlers,  hence 
its  good  looks.'* 

"  May  19th. 

"  At  2  to  S.  James's  Hall  with  E.,  Benedict  having 
sent  us  two  guinea  seats.  Rossini's  '  Messe  Solennelle.' 
Some  of  it  very  fine,  and  I  think  more  devotional  than 
the  '  Stabat.'     We  left  just  before  it  was  over.  .  .  . 

♦  Vide  entry  for  May  4th. 

352 


A  GOOD  STORY  OF  MEYERBEER 

I  walked  to  Waterloo,  and  so  to  Hampton  Court — 
the  1st  Punch  '  out '  this  year.  Clean  and  good  d.  at 
Mitre,  as  usual." 

Shirley,  a  thing  very  unusual  with  him,  arrived  too 
late  for  the  soup.  He  said  that  as  a  rule  concerts  bored 
him,  but  that  the  ''  Messe  ''  had  almost  persuaded  him 
to  be  enough  of  a  Christian  to  rehsh  fine  church  music. 
Thereupon  du  Maurier  told  an  amusing  story  of  the 
composer.  A  certain  musician  had  composed  a 
*'  Mass  "  on  Meyerbeer's  death  : — 

*'  Cest  tres  bien,  monsieur,''  said  Rossini,  ''  seulement 
c'est  vous  qui  aurait  du  mourir,  et  c'est  Meyerbeer  qui 
aurait  du  faire  la  Messe  f  '** 

"  May  19th. 

''  I  suggested  the  cut,  which  was  at  once  adopted — 
an  American  Falstaff.f 

He  ♦  4e  ♦ 

"  Cabman  took  up  a  friend,  without  asking  my 
leave,  so  I  docked  sixpence  and  told  him  why.  He 
seemed  so  unconscious  of  wrong,  that  I  wished  I  had 
only  blown  him  up — but  next  day  a  cabman  tried  to 
cheat  Cecil  of  sixpence  so  all  is  well '  on  the  average/  " 

"  May  20th. 

'*  E.,  considering  that  we  must  give  a  dinner  and  a 
crush,  we  issued  some  invitations  for  the  former,  and 
made  out  a  list  for  the  latter,  whereby  we  discovered 

*  From  Mr.  Silver's  notes. 

f  Outrageous  claims  were  being  made  on  England  in  the  Alabama 
business,  and  thus  did  Shirley  try  to  solve  the  matter  :  "  Sirrah," 
says  the  Prince  of  Wales,  "  do  I  owe  you  a  thousand  pounds  ?  " 
Sir  John  Falstaff :  "A  thousand  pounds  ?  Four  hundred 
miUion  !  Thy  love  is  worth  four  hundred  miUion  :  thou  owest  me 
thy  love."     But,  as  we  know,  America  went  for  the  dollars. 

353 

24— (2297) 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

that  if  we  asked  all  our  dear  friends,  and  all  came,  we 
could  muster  188 — what  a  deal  of  love  for  two  people. 
And  I  would  stick  on  as  many  more  of  my  own.  O  lor  !  " 
"  May  2lsL 

'*  E.  gave  Alderman,  our  clean  cook,  notice  by  reason 
that  she  dresseth  herself  too  well,  and  the  dinner  too  ill. 
The  second,  the  real  and  sufficing  cause,  howsoever, 
be  it  said.  Again  writing  that  Punch  Prophecy  for  the 
Derby,  which  sticks  by  me  like  the  Essence  of  Parlia- 
ment. P. —  C. —  is  dead,  53.  He  wronged  me  in  a 
money  matter,  but  it  was  in  his  desperate  flounders, 
and  I  have  very  long  since  forgiven  that,  and  regretted 
that  he  would  never  write  to  me,  '  thick '  as  we  had 
been,  from  the  hour  the  lawyers  wrote  to  me.  I  have 
many  pleasant  memories  of  him.  Never  was  a  case 
in  which  a  man  flung  away  good  cards  so  very  madly, 
and  all  because  of  the  drink.  If  there  is  anything  to 
be  done  for [his  wife]  I  will  be  in  it.'' 

And  he  was  as  good  as  his  word.  The  dead  man 
was  a  writer  of  some  eminence  and  Shirley  got  up  a 
memorial  to  Gladstone.  This  resulted  in  enough  being 
granted  out  of  the  Literary  Pensions  Fund  to  pay  the 
widow's  debts.  It  was  the  sort  of  ''  revenge  "  that 
Shirley  enjoyed. 
"  May  2&h. 

"  Burnand  suggested  the  cut — ^a  most  admirable  one 
— '  The  Emperor  looking  at  the  Urn,  ^'  U Homme  qui 

Rur ' 

"  May  30th. 

''  Mem.  Heard  a  man  telling  a  lady  in  the '  Botanical ' 
that    rhododendrons    required    watering    every    day, 
except  Sunday  !     This  is  a  fact.     I  must  print  it." 
"  June  4th. 

"  Hobhouse,*  Lord  Broughton,  Byron's  friend,  is 

♦  John  Cam  Hobhouse. 

354 


A  MISUNDERSTOOD  JOKE 

dead.  I  have  heard  that  he  became  a  most  '  arbitrary 
cove/  and  that  having  told  a  servant  to  get  a  horse  shod 
(in  a  rage),  the  man  thought  he  said  '  shot/  and 
preferred  to  do  this  to  asking  his  haughty  Lord  whether 
he  had  been  heard  aright." 

*'  June  5fh. 

*'  Old  Pater  has  taken  au  serieux  a  letter  Burnand 
sent  me,  mentioning  his  leaving  the  play  before  it  was 
over — a  palpable  joke.  Wrote  Pater  on  Sunday — 
how  can  he  be  so  absurd  ?  The  longer  I  live  the  less 
safe  I  perceive  any  joke,  unless  you  stand  by  the  man, 
laugh  loud,  clap  him  on  the  back,  and  say  it*s  only  your 
fun." 

"  June  8th.    (Reginald  and  Cecil  were  now  at  Isleworth  Inter- 
national College.) 

''  Cecil,  by  appointment  overnight,  made  with  the 
approbation  of  Rego  and  of  Britton,  C.*s  friend,  met 
in  single  combat  Steinthal,  formerly  his  fast  friend 
also,  but  who  with  two  others  (Burchardt  and  Stohr, 
all  Germans),  has  been  persecuting  him  of  late  until 
his  Hfe  was  made  miserable.  He  got  well  pummelled, 
but  is  understood  to  have  fought  so  well  with  his  foe 
that  the  others  thought  he  was  winning.  They 
stopped  the  fight  after  5  rounds,  3  minutes,  when 
the  combatants  rushed  off  to  cleanse  away  the  gore. 
I  suppose  I  ought  to  be  in  a  great  rage,  and  manifest  it, 
but  I  shall  manifest  it  without  feeling  it.  E.  behaved 
excellently  discreetly,  lecturing  everybody,  from  the 
Doctor  down  to  Steinthal,  but  not  demanding  vengeance. 
Next  day  Steinthal  wrote  for  my  pardon,  saying  also 
that  Cecil  demanded  the  fight.  Adds  that  he,  Stein- 
thal, has  been  '  punished.'  The  justice  whereof,  as 
regards  the  fight,  is  not  clear,  but  he  richly  deserved  it 
for  the  persecution.  Cecil  is  brought  home,  looking 
as  one  who  has  fought.     Now  that  he  has  shown  his 

355 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

mettle,  I  suppose  there  will  be  no  more  trouble,  but  if 
there  is,  I  shall  remove  him.  Rego,  who  really  acted 
with  the  best  motives,  seems  to  have  caught  it  all  round, 
and  to  have  felt  strong  enough  in  his  motives  to  be 
dignified,  which  I  like.  These  boys  !  But  it  is  the  lot 
of  most  fathers,  I  suppose,  to  be  worried  some  way, 
and,  thank  God,  ours  do  nothing  wrong'* 

"  June  Uth. 

'*  Dear  Aleck  Munro*  sends  me  a  long  and  affectionate 
note,  in  his  own  hand,  in  pencil.  So  thankful  for 
papers,  especially  Public  Opinion.  Will  I  come  out 
to  him  in  November  or  December  ?  He  says  that  he 
is  quite  happy,  though  doomed.  Asks  me  for  a  book, 
with  my  writing,  giving  it  to  him.  Says  only  half  of 
my  character  has  yet  been  shown  in  my  books,  only 
the  '  Horatian  '  side,  and  hopes  I  shall  show  the  other. 
(Is  there  another  ?)  Begs  me  to  go  to  his  studio  and 
select  a  memento  of  him.*' 

''June  17th. 

"  I  went  to  the  G.  after  dinner,  and  had  a  long  talk 
with  Walter  Prideaux,  official  of  the  Goldsmiths'  Co., 
about  my  taking  up  my  father's  servitude.  This  I 
spoke  of  to  him  years  back,  but  though  I  got  a  letter 
from  my  uncle  and  part  of  the  evidence  required,  the 
matter  dropped.  I  may  as  well  take  up  the  freedom, 
though  I  do  not  know  that  it  can  do  me  any  good. 
I  shall  be  a  citizen  of  no  mean  city.'* 

"  June  \%th. 

*'  I    have    done    the    great    debate  f — the    finest    I 

*  The  sculptor  who  was  dying  in  the  south  of  France. 

t  On  Gladstone's  Bill  for  Disendowing  and  DisestabHshing  the 
Protestant  Church  in  Ireland.  Of  Bishop  Magee's  speech  on  this 
occasion  Lord  Derby  declared,  "  Its  fervid  eloquence  and  impas- 
sioned and  brilliant  language  have  never  in  my  memory  been 
surpassed,  and  rarely  equalled." 

356 


GRENVILLE  MURRAY  HORSE- WHIPPED 

recollect — in  a  serious  sort  of  way  for  Punch ,  for,  after 
all  deductions  for  humbug  reformers  and  [hollow 
defenders,  the  subject  is  too  big  to  cut  jokes  on. 
Magee's  speech  has  made  a  sensation — if  Bright  had 
spoken  half  as  well,  the  Liberal  papers  would  have  gone 
mad  and  sung  nunc  dimittis,'* 

"  June  23rd. 

''  To  Whitefriars  to  dine.  Stuck  up^for  a  recognition 
of  Lord  Russell  in  this  Irish  matter — the  brave  little 
old  man  has  worked  at  it  all  his  life,  and  now  sees  it 
carried  by  men  who  were  in  the  Brocas,  or  at  the  Union, 
when  he  was  preaching  about  it.^Told  T.  T.  to  write 
a  poem  in  this  sense,  and  I  hope  he  will — I  have 
written  that  way  in  the  Illustrated^  and  shall  send  it 
anonymously  to  the  Earl.'* 

**  June  2ith. 

**  Grenville  Murray,  for  slander  in  the  Queen* s 
Messenger  J  has  had  an  awful  good  licking  from  Lord 
Carington,  and  serve  him  right.  We  hoped  that 
Punch's  example  had  ended  that  sort  of  work,  but  it 
has  revived  of  late  in  much  beastly  vigour,  and  the 
beast's  remedy  is  the  only  one.** 

Lord  Carington  horse-whipped  Murray  in  conse- 
quence of  an  offensive  article  in  a  scurrilous  publication 
called  the  Queen's  Messenger ,  of  which  Murray's  son 
was  the  registered  proprietor,  but  Murray  himself  the 
chief  writer.  The  article  was  thought  to  refer  to  Lord 
Carington' s  father.  The  case  for  assault  came  before 
the  Marlborough  St.  Police  Magistrates,  Mr.  d'Eyncourt 
and  Mr.  Knox.  At  its  close  there  was  a  pitched  battle 
between  the  friends  of  the  rival  parties  for  the  posses- 
sion of  a  box    of    papers    referring    to  the  Queen's 

357 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

Messenger.     Punch  (I  think  at  Shirley's  hands)  was 
equal  to  the  occasion  : — 

"CHAOS   WITHOUT  KNOX. 

"  The  Marlborough  Street  battle  let  others  relate, 

We'll  deal  with  but  one  or  two  facts, 
Mr.  d'Eyncourt  presides,  but  the  suitors,  they  state 

Disdain  Court  by  violent  acts. 
But  what,  most  of  all,  we  can  venture  to  say, 

Our  sense  of  congruity  shocks. 
The  parties  to  this  most  inglorious  fray 

Came  to  blows  in  the  absence  of  Knox." 

"  June  27th. 

"It  'is  better  to  go  to  the  house  of  mourning  than 
the  house  of  feasting ' — which  is  true,  if  there  is 
another  world,  as  I  know  there  is — else  not,  I  think. 
We  did  go  to  the  former  from  the  latter — we  called 
on  poor  Annie  Munro,  152  Buck.  P.  Road.  Melancholy 
enough — all  in  perfect  order,  as  after  a  funeral.  Many 
things  gone,  the  rest  ticketed  with  prices.  She  held 
up,  and  spoke  of  all  being  for  the  best,  but  could 
hardly  keep  her  tears  down — nor  could  E.,  without 
effort.  The  poor  fellow  had  sent  me  over,  by  Annie, 
a  little  thing  that  had  held  his  matches — a  frog — he 
wished  something  that  had  been  near  him  to  be  near 
me.  And  two  tiny  terra  cotta  vases  for  Emily. 
And  desired  us  to  say  whether  we  should  like  a  couple 
of  casts  of  a  small  Dante  and  Shakespeare.  I  did  not 
want  anything  more  than  the  relics  that  we  had 
received,  but  she  pressed  the  others,  and  I  could  not 
refuse.  She  repeated  expressions  of  the  pleasure  he 
gets  from  my  papers — newspapers,  I  mean.  Both 
Mary  and  she  write  every  day.  Came  away  very  sad, 
with  recollections  that  I  had  seen  merry  doings  there.''* 

♦  Alec.  Munro  died  in  1871. 

358 


THE   IRISH  CHURCH  AS  VENUS 

"  June  29th. 

**  To  Punch.  Dinner  to-day  at  my  instance,  a 
concession  I  repaid  by  suggesting  the  cut — *  Venus 
attired  by  the  Graces/  *  Gave  M.  L.  the  book  in  which 
for  several  months  of  last  year  I  recorded  the  sayings 
at  the  Punch  dinners — several  looked  at  it,  and  were 
hugely  delighted.  T.  Taylor  in  good  talk  to-day. 
Told  a  good  story  about  S. — W.  — ,  who  advised  him 
on  circuit  not  to  be  led  away  by  successes  gained  through 
literary  fame.  '  On  my  first  coming,  every  attorney 
of  note  gave  me  a  brief — ^no  one  gave  me  a  second.' 
S.  quite  unconscious  of  what  it  meant.  And  about  his 
being  asked  to  the  ^  Albany '  to  meet  his  first  Lord — 
the  peer  didn't  come,  so  one  Elliott  played  lord,  and 
W.'s  subservience  awful — even  to  affecting  to  be  drunk 
when  the  other  affected  it.  .  .  . 

"  To-day  a  huge  fete  at  the  Crystal  Palace,  for  the 
Viceroy,  i.e.^  the  Queen  won't  entertain  her  guest, 
so  lends  him  to  a  showman,  to  make  the  best  of  him, 
and  throws  in  her  son  and  daughter-in-law  to  help  out 
the  bill  of  fare." 

"  June  30th. 

''  .  .  .  E.  and  I  dined  at  home,  and  amused 
ourselves  in  the  evening  by  constructing  pedigree 
on  her  side.  She  said  something  very  grateful  and 
affectionate,  which,  being  written  in  my  heart,  I  set 
not  down  here." 
"  July  1th. 

*'  Up  at  8 — proofs — to  White  Horse  Cellar,  whence 
all  the  Punch  party,  except  T.  T.  and  C.  K.,  and 
Sketchley  who  came  down  by  rail.  Started  at  10  on 
the  outside  of  the  4-horse  coach,  the  '  Exquisite,'  for 

*  Venus  (the  Irish  Church)  attired  by  the  (Christian)  Graces, 
Lord  Westbury,  Lord  Grey  and  Lord  Cairns,  the  chief  peers  to  move 
amendments  to  Mr.  Gladstone's  Bill. 

359 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

Tunbridge  Wells.  Lovely  day,  not  too  much  sun, 
and  the  coach  went  splendidly,  but  I  saw  the  driver 
was  one  of  the  old  sort,  and  liked  to  knock  against 
or  chaff  those  who  did  not  get  out  of  his  way.  We 
enjoyed  the  drive  hugely,  and  were  within  4  miles 
of  T.  Wells,  M.  L.  on  box,  and  behind  him  Tenniel, 
S.  B.,  Kiki,  Silver,  when  a  leader  gave  a  plunge  and 
fell  down.  The  wheeler  was  over  him  before  the  driver 
could  check  the  coach,  and  then  he  called  out,  terrified, 
'  Passengers  all  down.'  Down  we  went,  and  I  received 
Fred  on  the  top  of  my  head,  but  no  harm  done.*  The 
horse  was  as  dead  as  Julius  Caesar.  Had  he  lived  to 
kick,  there  might  have  been  mischief,  and  had  the 
thing  happened  as  we  went  down  one  of  those  hills, 
some  of  us  must  have  been  killed.  Thank  God.  With 
three  horses  we  went  ignominiously  into  the  Wells. 
Sussex  Hotel,  opposite  the  Pantiles — wash  and  lunch. 
Wrote  Emily,  lest  she  might  hear  in  the  Echo  or 
some  way.  (She  did  not,  but  had  a  presentiment  and 
was  quite  prepared,  she  said,  for  my  letter.)  Lounged 
about  the  Pantiles — ^bought  E.  scissors  mounted  in 
leather — and  we  dined,  excellently,  at  5.  Four  went 
away  by  train — the  others,  including  myself,  stayed — 
slept  on  ground  floor.  No.  3,  and  very  soundly.  A  very 
pleasant  '  out,'  into  lovely  country.'' 

"  July  21th, 

''  Lillie  Jerrold  d.  with  us,  and  we  went  to  the 
St.  James's  box,  to  see  Schneider  in  the  famous 
'  Grande  Duchesse.'  She  is  very  pretty,  allowing  for 
the  make  up,  and  her  acting  is  finished,  her  face  full 
of  expression.  The  business  is  as  immoral  and  sug- 
gestive as  possible,  but  only  to  those  who  understand. 
I  suppose  a  modest  girl  would  see  only  a  great  rude 

*  *  It  is  an  idiotic  thing  to  write,  but  let  it  be  said  that  I  wore  this 
crushed  hat  till  4th  March,  1871  I    Mr.  Pepys  is  no  dandy.' 

360 


MRS.   BEECHER  STOWE  AND  BYRON 

flirt.  But  to  the  evil  the  woman  presents  nothing 
more  modest  than  an  erotic  she-cat  on  a  grass-plot, 
with  all  the  little  noises,  petulances,  and  the  rest  of  the 
business-amatory.  The  rest  is  mere  buffoonery,  but 
not  unamusing.*' 

**  August  8th. 

*' Had  the  Punch  proofs,  but  there  is  nothing 
to  alter.*  Last  week  dear  old  M.  L.  took  out  a 
very  harmless  paragraph  I  left  in,  about  midwifery 
on  board  ship — but  he  is  right,  perhaps,  to  be 
over-fastidious.'' 

"  August  3lsL 

''  Here  beginneth  a  story  without  an  end — Mrs. 
Beecher  Stowe  publishes  in  Macmillanj  which  Grove  f 
now  edits,  an  article  called  the  *  Truth  about  Lord  and 
Lady  Byron  '  (or  to  that  effect),  and  alleging  that  Lady 
B.  told  Mrs.  S.  that  Lord  B.  had  committed  incest 
with  Mrs.  Leigh.  I  have  heard  this  said  before.  Now 
I  don't  believe  a  d — d  word  of  the  charge,  but  I  do 
believe  Byron,  who  was  a  cad,  made  people  think  him 
worse  than  he  was.  This  article  let  loose  such  a  storm 
— wishy-washy  waves,  however,  as  will  not  cease  this 
side  Xmas.  I  wrote,  to  help  Grove,  a  paragraph  in 
*  N.  in  P.,'  but  very  guarded." 

About  the  middle  of  August  Shirley  joined  his  wife 
and  the  two  boys  in  Wales.  Just  before  starting  he 
met  the  proprietor  of  one  of  the  leading  London 
newspapers  and  asked  him  whether  he  had  ever  been 
at  Beaumaris  : — 

"  No,"  said  the  great  man,  "  I  have  never  been  in 
Scotland  at  all !  " 

*  Mark  Lemon  was  ill  and  Shirley  was  again  "  acting  editor." 
■f  [Sir]  George  Grove. 

361 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

Hearing  that  Mrs.  Frank  Romer  was  at  Barmouth, 
he  wrote  : — 

S.  B.  TO  Mrs.  F.  Romer  (Mrs.  Jopling  Rowe). 

"  Sunday  morning, 

"  Church  time. 

'*  My  dear  Mrs.  Frank, 

*'  Do  you  think  that  nobody  can  come  to  Wales 
but  yourself  ?  Ha  !  I  am  within  40  miles  of  you  as 
the  crow  flies,  but  then  I  cannot  well  travel  so,  not 
having  arrived  at  crowdom  yet.  We  shall  be  crows — 
see  '  Vestiges  of  Creation,'  as  explained  by  Tancred. 
Here  we  be,  with  a  panorama  of  the  Carnarvonshire 
hills — they  call  them  mountains  in  Welsh — before  us, 
across  the  Menai  Straits.  I  wanted  to  be  very  dull, 
and  I  believe  I  shall  attain  my  wish.  One  can  stagnate 
here  very  successfully.  I  was  rejoiced  to  hear  that 
you  had  gone  on  a  long  visit  to  Belle  Vue,  and  I  hope 
the  fresh  airs  have  brought  colour  to  your  cheeks,  after 
the  fag  of  hard  work.  The  more  we  all  look  at  the 
portrait  of  Helen,*  the  more  we  admire  it.  It  is  now 
hung  on  the  wall  opposite  the  window  in  the  '  Shake- 
speare,' t  and  in  the  corner  to  the  left — there  is  no  good 
place  in  the  room,  but  that  I  thought  the  least  bad. 

'*  I  came  down  yesterday,  so  I  have  lost  no  time  in 
shouting  across  to  you.  London  was  growing  intoler- 
able, but  I  stayed  for  Sissie  Frith's  *  wedding  ;  we  had 
full  choral  service  and  were  all  photographed.  You 
will  conceive  me  having  to  propose  '  The  Bridesmaids.' 
I  brought  in  allusion  to  the  group  of  such  in  the  father's 

*  Mrs.  Warner's  youngest  daughter,  painted  by  Mrs.  F   Romer. 

f  The  Warners'  private  room  at  the  "  Bedford  "  was  so  called  from 
the  supposed  fact  that  Shakespeare  and  the  wits  of  his  time  made 
the  Bedford  Coffee  House  their  afternoon  lounge. 

X  Mrs.  Panton. 


RELIGIOUS   "LARKING'^ 

picture  of  the  Railway  Station  !  which,  as  Mr.  Pepys 
saith,  '  caused  a  pretty  diversion/  I  wish  the  Welsh 
people  did  not  speak  Welsh,  one  is  far  less  at  home  than 
in  France.  But  then  you  don't  want  to  be  at  home, 
don't  you  see,  says  you,  which  is  true,  only  when 
the  maiden-in- waiting  says  '  I  put  gas,'  and  you  say 
'  Very  well,'  meaning  that  she  will  put  it  out,  and  you 
find  it  burning  in  the  morning,  and  that  '  I '  meant 
*  you,'  it  makes  one  regret  the  confusion  of  tongues. 

'*  Ever  yours  faithfully, 

"  Shirley  Brooks." 

S.  B.  TO  Ditto. 

"15  Menai  View  Terrace, 
"  Bangor, 

"  20th  August,  1869. 

''  My  dear  Mrs.  Frank, 

*'  You  would  have  got  my  illustrated  note  from 
Beaumaris.  I  have  come  here,  as  convenient  for  excur- 
sions, but  I  do  not  like  the  locality  as  well  as  the  other, 
the  magnificent  mountains  being  exchanged  for  pretty 
woods  and  white  villas,  which  one  can  see  anywhere. 
Yesterday  we  went  to  Carnarvon — the  Castle  is 
glorious,  but  the  Welsh  Calvinistic  Methodists  were 
holding  their  *  Socialion,'  and  the  place  was  crammed 
with  he  and  she  clowns  in  their  best  clothes,  all  '  lark- 
ing '  but  in  a  reHgious  spirit.  Thank  heaven,  my 
driver  belongs  to  some  other  sect,  the  Congregational- 
ists,  I  beheve,  so  he  hates  the  others  and  did  his  best 
to  run  over  them.  I  think  we  scrunched  the  toes  of 
one  Calvinist,  for  we  dashed  out  of  the  town  amid  a 
volley  of  abuse.     Being  in  Welsh,  it  did  not  hurt. 

"  Say  to  Mr.  Ellis  Wilhams,  please,  with  my  kindest 
regards,  that  I  should  have  been  very  much  pleased 
to  come,  but  I  travel  with  three  incumbrances,  and  our 

363 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

locomotion  is  '  a  business/  You  will  do  very  well, 
I  know.  I  hope  you  gave  them  a  French  song.  Such 
are  always  applauded  doubly  :  once  for  their  merit, 
and  once  to  show  that  we  are  grateful,  and  under- 
stand. Loudest  of  all  is  the  applause  when  we  don't 
understand.     I  shall  ask  for  the  encore  yn  Llundain. 

''  Of  course^  you  have  done  nothing,  on  the  spot. 
It  is  thus  that  the  seed  is  sown,  the  germination  is 
an  after  matter.  I  am  stagnating  like  a  toad  at  the 
bottom  of  a  well,  but  I  know  I  am  not  wasting  my  time. 
I  am  sorry  that  your  holiday  is  drawing  to  a  close, 
but  it  is  a  good  thing  to  have  led  six  weeks  of  do- 
nothingness.    Mrs.    S ^y    sends    you    her    kindest 

regards — so  do  I — mine. 

*'  Ever  yours  affectionately, 

*'  Shirley  Brooks. 
"  Mrs.  F.  Romer." 

Quotation  from  letter  to  Mrs.  Romer  during  the 
Wales  visit. 

'*  Apropos  of  nothing,  in  one  of  the  old  plays,  a  young 
fellow  puts  the  doctrine  of  filial  obedience  in  a  clear 
light.  His  father  has  ordered  him  not  to  flirt  with  a 
certain  artful  Mrs.  Frail.  *  I  shall.  The  young 
woman's  mighty  civil.  Tho'  he  be  my  feyther,  I 
hean't  hound  'prentice  to  'un ;  I  shan't  obey  him.' 
Your  Uncle  Mark  coarsely  abuses  me  for  writing 
letters,  when  the  same  amount  of  ink  and  paper  would 
make  articles  for  Punch.  There  is  some  show  of 
reason  in  this,  but  I  bean't  bound  'prentice  to  him, 
and  then  I  never  could  do  the  thing  that  I  ought. 
Besides,  I  ought  to  have  a  holiday,  whether  I  want  it 
or  not.  Besides,  I  do.  Any  news  about  '  Pop  '  and 
her  marriage  ?  Wasn't  it  to  be  about  now  ?  I  miss 
the  '  Bedford '  Mart   of  General    Information   About 

364 


IN  WALES 

Everybody.  Remember  me  kindly  there  if  you  like. 
Excuse  this  wild  envelope  ;  lucky  that  I  have  any, 
the  shops  are  shut  to-day.  Best  regards  to  your 
husband. 

*'  Yours  very  faithfully, 

''  S.  B.*' 

S.  B.  TO  Percival  Leigh. 

"9  Victoria  Terrace, 
"  Beaumaris, 

"  N.  Wales, 

"  Au^.  31s/. 
"  My  dear  Professor, 

*'  Your  letter  of  the  29th  could  hardly  have  got 
to  me  faster  had  you  known  my  address.  I  sent  for 
my  letters  yesterday,  and  yours  was  in  the  packet. 
I  should  have  written  to  you  long  ago,  but  was  un- 
certain of  your  whereabouts,  and  have  asked  M.  L. 
thereabout,  but  he  forgot  to  say.  I  am  actually 
writing  from  Bangor,  but  we  move  back  to  Beaumaris 
to-morrow,  and  the  above  is  an  address  at  which  all 
favours  will  be  thankfully  received. 

''  We  have  done  very  well,  this  '  out.*  My  folks 
first  settled  at  Beaumaris,  until  I  came,  and  the  boys 
boated,  swam,  etc.  Then,  on  my  arrival,  a  fortnight 
or  so  back,  we  migrated  here  for  the  convenience  of 
excursions,  as  everything  can  be  reached  from  Bangor, 
whereas  Beaumaris  has  no  rail  convenient.  Hence, 
we  have  done  a  good  deal,  Carnarvon  Castle,  Penman- 
maur  ('  a  very  pig  mountain,  clory  of  all  Wales' ;  remem- 
ber the  Welshman  in  the  Spectator,  who  didn't  like 
to  go  to  the  Lover's  Leap,  as  he  was  liable  to  catch 
cold,  but  wished  to  know  whether  he  might  break 
his  neck  from  Penmanmaur),  Llanberis,  etc.  But  our 
crowning  feat  was  Snowdon,  up  to  the  top  of  which  we 
4  went,  yesterday  week.     It  is  nothing  to  do,  that  is 

365 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

from  the  Llanberis  side,  and  on  horses  (till  near  the 
top),  as  we  did  it,  but  much  over  another  route,  with 
a  narrow  walk  of  a  mile,  and  precipices  1,000  feet  on 
each  hand,  path  8  feet ;  men  have  had  to  be  conducted 
blindfold  over  it.  I  don't  do  these  things.  The  view 
from  the  top,  with  the  abysses  sending  up  their  mists 
of  sacrifice  to  the  sun,  who  shone  nobly  at  the  right 
moment,  the  gloriousest  sight  I  ever  saw.  The  work 
took  just  five  hours,  and  to  the  hotel,  and  I  am  glad 
I  did  it.  We  have  been  very  well,  eating  and  drinking 
(beer  chiefly  ;  it  is  good  here),  and  I  have  set  up  a 
pipe,  which  I  think  answers,  until  last  night,  when  the 
boys  took  it  into  their  heads  to  be  awfully  sick,  and 
we  had  had  mushrooms  for  dinner,  so  of  course  my 
wife  began  to  think  of  all  toadstools.  But  I  beheved 
it  was  only  the  wild  and  irregular  living  :  tarts,  beer, 
swimming,  hot  sun,  more  beer,  honey,  and  other 
delicacies,  and  to-day  all  is  right.  To-morrow,  as  I 
say,  we  go  back  to  B.  M.  and  to  the  splendid  panorama 
of  the  Carnarvonshire  mountains. 

''  I  have  done  nothing  for  Punch  since  I  left.  I 
wanted  a  holiday.  I  have  just  written  elsewhere  what 
was  necessary,  and  that  old  friend,  M.  L.  writes  to  ask 
for  '  over  set '  of  that.  I  believe  an  Editor  has  no  more 
bowels  than  the  dragon  Daniel  stuck  the  fireballs  into  : 
vide  Apocrypha.  He  won't  get  much,  I  can  tell  him, 
he  ought  to  make  the  other  horses  work.  One  scarcely 
cares  to  look  at  a  paper,  except  just  the  telegrams. 
I  have  not  seen  the  Times  for  a  fortnight,  but  a  Liver- 
pool paper  comes  early,  and  tells  me  all  I  want  to  know. 

''  My  love  to  your  nieces.  Were  I  they,  Southampton 
should  never  agree  with  me,  while  I  had  an  affable  uncle 
in  London,  whom  it  is  a  charity  to  stir  up.  Kind 
regards  also  to  your  brother  and  sister.  You  would 
like  this  place,  or  Beaumaris,  quite  quiet,  do  as  you 
like,  no  swells,  no  rabble,  good  beer,  and  fine  scenery 


''NONE  OF  YOUR  SHEENIES " 

without  the  trouble  of  doing  more  than  looking  up  at 
it.'f  Bangor  is  a  clean,  well-drained  little  capital,  with 
a  beastly  ugly  cathedral,  not  in  the  least  suggestive  of 
rehgion  of  any  kind.'* 

"  Sept.  12th. 

"  Batches  of  letters,  including  the  invitation  from 
the  Viceroy  to  go  to  the  opening  of  the  Suez  Canal. 
Would  I  could,  but  the  time  and  the  sacrifice  would 
make  it  absurd  to  think  of  it.  Young  Ravens  must  be 
fed,  as  M.  L.  always  saith." 

"  Sept.  13th. 

"  To-day  performed  the  solemn  ceremony  of  investing 
Reginald  with  my  watch.  He  wanted  one,  and  this 
has  served  me  well  for  many  years,  and  goes  excellently 
— it  will  do  for  his  early  experiences.  Only  I  shall 
have  to  buy  another.  He  was  so  delighted,  and  not 
ashamed  to  show  that  he  was.'* 

"  Sept.  11th. 

"  Wrote  a  long  thing  for  Punch  about  the  Wallace  * 
monument,  just  opened,  with  a  wild  muddle  of  history. 
I  laughed  myself,  don't  know  if  others  will.'' 

''  Sept.  21st. 

"  Took  a  pill,  and  dreamed  of  the  loveliest  face  I  ever 
saw — perfectly  oval  and  regular,  and  her  hair  in  a 
glossy  mass,  hiding  face  till  I  put  it  aside." 

"  Sept.  30th. 

"  Read  to-day  that  good,  old,  odd  Mrs.  Bensusan 
was  dead.  A  kind  Jewess,  and  very  clever.  She  was 
very  fond  of  E.,  gave  her  a  trinket  one  day  because 
they  might  never  meet  again,  but  she  was  here  after 
that.  She  embroidered  me  a  waistcoat.  Proud  Jews, 
of  a  Spanish  race — none  of  your  Sheenies." 

*  The  article  entitled  "  Wallace  Wight  "  is  a  dehghtful  melange  of 
history  ancient  and  modem. 

367 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 
S.  B.  TO  Mrs.  F.  Romer  (Mrs.  Jopling  Rowe). 

"  Sept.  20th,  1869. 

"  Now,  my  dear  Mrs.  Frank,  didn't  we  swear  an 
Eternal  Friendship  ?  Then,  such  being  the  case,  why 
do  you  say — without  thinking  it  for  a  moment — that 
such  ideas  are  possible  as  those  you  hint  at  ?  The  fact  is 
I  have  only  just  brought  myself  into  a  condition  of 
comparative  civilisation  after  a  long  month  among  the 
Welsh  hills,  and  I  had  intended,  and  do  intend,  to  walk 
over  and  see  your  studio  and  its  contents,  and  so 
complete  the  civilising  process.  I  won't  make  an 
appointment,  because  I  know  you  are  always  at  work, 
and  I  shall  be  sure  to  find  you.  I  hear  that  your  Welsh 
trip  has  done  you  all  sorts  of  good,  and  that  you  are 
greatly  refreshed  thereby — the  word  '  stouter '  was 
used,  but  I  could  not  put  my  pen  to  that.  Certainly 
Wales  is  a  place  to  see,  but  not  to  live  in.  After  I  had 
done  the  sight  business,  I  went  back  to  Beaumaris, 
and  was  utterly  idle,  except  that  I  did  all  my  news- 
paper work,  with  a  large  addition  as  usual.  At  most 
hours  I  sat  by  the  sea,  '  mooning '  at  the  mountains 
opposite.  But  one  good  day  I  had,  and  I  do  wish  you 
could  have  seen  the  object  of  the  excursion,  the  Falls 
of  the  Swallow,  near  Capel  Curig.  They  are  things, 
or  a  thing,  to  look  at  and  remember.  For  the  rest, 
I  take  it  that  you  have  seen  as  good  scenery  as  I  have, 
or  better,  for  I  read  that  near  Barmouth  there  are 
'  unsurpassed '  districts.  But  then  I  don't  know 
whether  you  care  about  scenery,  and  I  have  no  doubt  all 
your  companions  prefer  a  well-looking  young  man,  or 
a  novel,  or  a  song  to  all  the  mountain  effects  in  the 
world — and  quite  right  too.  I  came  on  a  young  lady 
in  the  noble  pass  of  Llanberis — her  friends  had  walked 
on  to  see  views,  and  she  had  got  into  a  shady  corner, 
and  had  her  head  down  in  a  book,  which  I  manoeuvred 

368 


A  GOOD   KEENE  CUT 

to  see  ;  it  was  the  '  Morals  of  May  Fair  ' — a  novel. 
However,  we'll  talk  about  this.  I  have  not  at  all 
settled  into  London,  and  I  would  have  gone  away 
again,  but  all  next  week  your  uncle  Falstaff  wants  me 
to  edit  for  him — after  that,  the  weather  will  break  up, 
and  then  London  is  the  best  place  in  the  world.  Are 
you  being  taken  to  the  theatres — not  that  there  is 
anything  worth  seeing,  I  believe  ?  I  am  actually 
going  to  Forest  Hill,  presently,  to  dine  with  a  friend, 
that  we  may  go  like  dear  good  children,  and  see  the 
fireworks  at  the  Crystal  Palace — if  it  don't  rain.  Not 
to  take  children,  mark  you,  dear  Madam.  There  is  no 
excuse  at  all,  except  utter  frivolity,  and  the  man  who 
is  going  to  drive  me  over  is  twice  as  big  as  I  am. 

*'  I  have  an  invitation  from  Nubar  Pasha,  writing 
for  the  Viceroy  of  Egypt,  to  go  to  the  opening  of  the 
Suez  Canal :  he  writes  in  French,  and  is  polite  enough 
to  call  me  an  '  esprit  eclair eJ  Such  a  stupid  note 
as  this  is  a  proof  that  Nubar  don't  know  me. 

*'  Always  yours  faithfully, 

''  S.  B." 

S.  B.  TO  Ditto. 

"  Sept.  21th,  1869. 

"  There  is  a  cut  this  week,  about  an  artist,  that  will 
I  think,  make  you  laugh.*  I  will  send  it.  We  are 
having  our  Punch  dinner  again  at  the  '  Bedford '  to- 
morrow (Tuesday)  ;  perhaps  you  may  look  in.  I  had 
the  opportunity  of  showing  your  picture  f  to  my  wife, 
who  is  enchanted  with  it,  and  wishes  she  had  one  by 

*  A  beautiful  drawing  by  Charles  Keene  of  a  father  and  son 
looking  over  the  shoulder  of  an  artist  at  his  easel  on  the  sea-shore  : 

*'  Papa.  '  There,  Henry  !  If  you  could  do  like  that,  I'd  have 
you  taught  drawing,  my  boy  !  '  " 

f  That  of  Miss  Helen  Warner. 

35— (3297) 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

the  same  hand,  of  the  boys.  Some  day,  perhaps, 
you  may  Hke  to  indulge  this  vanity.  I  have  a  reason- 
able memory,  but  what  do  you  think  of  this  in  proof  ? 
I  am  going  to  be  made  a  *  Goldsmith,'  and  I  want  the 
certificate  of  my  late  parents'  marriage.  So  I  marched 
off  to-day  to  get  it  at  St.  Andrew's,  Holborn.  Having 
searched  and  searched  in  vain,  and  having  begun  to 
wonder  whether  I  was  going  to  be  the  hero  of  a  sensa- 
tion novel,  and  turn  out  a  nobleman's  '  chyild,'  I 
suddenly  astounded  the  clerk  by  banging  the  book 
together — *  I  beg  your  pardon,  I  meant  St.  Mary, 
Islington.'  He  stared  so  that  I  let  him  keep  2d. 
change  out  of  2s.  6d.  for  himself,  and  then  I  went  into 
St.  Paul's,  as  a  secluded  place,  to  have  a  good  laugh 
at  myself. 

*'  Always  yours  faithfully, 

"S.  B. 
"  Mrs.  F.  Romer." 

"  Oct.  eth. 

"  To-day  did  what  I  might  as  well  have  done  years 
ago,  namely,  took  up  my  Freedom  at  the  Goldsmiths' 
Hall — also  at  Guildhall.  Cost  me  in  all  £2  8s.  Wrote 
Reginald  that  I  had  done  this." 

*'  Oct.  13th. 

'*  The  Morning  Star  died  to-day.  I  have  read  it 
generally  from  the  beginning.  Wrote  its  epitaph  in 
*  N.  in  P.'  to-day — as  fairly  as  I  could." 

"  Oct.  I9th. 

'*  Long  and  kind  letter  from  Mrs.  Andrew  Ramsay, 
who  is  delighted  with  what  I  have  done  for  the  Welsh. 
N.B. — I  learn  from  Mr.  E.  Freeman's  capital  little 
book,  just  out,  called  '  Old  EngHsh  History  for 
Children,'  and  which   tells  much  that  few  grown-up 

370 


PRAISE  FROM  LORD  LYTTON 

children  know,  that  '  Welsh '  only  means  folks  who 
talk  a  language  that  could  not  be  understood  by  the 
incomers  from  Angeln." 

"  Oct.  20th. 

"  A  Scotch  thing  called  the  Thistle,  frantic  rage  at 
my  '  Wallace  Wight  *  in  Punch,  but  only  boyish  abuse/' 

"  Oct.  23rd. 

"  Lord  Derby  died  this  morning,  and  Mark  Lemon 
asked  me  to  do  something  for  Punch.  Rather  a 
perfunctory  business,  though  I  greatly  admired  the 
man.  So  built  a  sonnet,  not  worse  nor  better  than 
might  be  expected  in  a  thing  asked  for  and  done  in  the 
hour.*     Waited  for  proof,  and  then  to  Bedford. 

"LORD  DERBY. 

"  Withdrawing  slow  from  those  he  loved  so  well. 
Autumn's  pale  morning  saw  him  pass  away  : 
Leave  them  beside  their  sacred  dead  to  pray, 
Unmarked  of  strangers.     Calmer  memories  tell 
How  nobly  Stanley  hved.     No  braver  name 
Glows  in  the  golden  roll  of  all  his  sires, 
Or  all  their  peers.     His  was  the  heart  that  fires 
The  eloquent  tongue,  and  his  the  eye  whose  aim 
Alone  half  quelled  his  foe.     He  struck  for  Power 
(And  power  in  England  is  a  hero's  prize). 
Yet  he  could  throw  it  from  him.     Those  whose  eyes 
See  not  for  tears,  remember  in  this  hour 
That  he  was  oft  from  Homer's  page  beguiled 
To  frame  some  *  wonder  for  a  happy  child.'  " 

"  Oct.  25th. 
*'  Our  elegant  parlour-maid,  Hawes,  uses  my  desk 

*  Elsewhere  he  writes  :  "It  was  done  at  Whitefriars  on  a  Sunday 
afternoon,  and  I  swear  somebody  came  in  between  every  line." 
Perfunctory  or  not,  it  drew  from  Lord  Lytton  a  letter  saying  that  it 
was  "  full  of  feeling,  truth  and  rhythmical  music,"  as  well  as  an 
invitation  to  dinner,  of  which  we  find  record  a  week  later. 

371 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

for  her  correspondence,  and  is  very  welcome,  but  she 
uses  my  pad,  and  leaves  her  traces — found  lines  with 
a  mystery — of  iniquity,  I  suppose — cut  them  out  and 
left  them  for  her  as  a  hint — they  were  taken.  Whether 
it  were  or  not — this  nonsense  reminded  me  of  an  idea 
which  I  may  work  out/' 

"  OcL  SOth. 
^  "  At  J  to  8  to  dine  with  Lord  Lytton,*  12  Grosvenor 
Square.  He  is  very  well  preserved,  b.  1805,  never- 
theless looks  as  one  who  has  lived.  The  old  high- 
courtesy  manner,  but  he  laughs  out.  Nothing  could 
be  pleasanter.  The  dinner,  I  may  suppose,  was  only 
that  he  might  see  what  I  am  like— or  it  were  more 
gracious  to  write  that  I  might  observe  him  at  my  ease, 
for  there  were  only  the  clergyman.  Rev.  W.  Cox,  of 
Bishopsgate,  whom  I  have  known  for  years  (he  is  a 
violent  mason),  a  nephew  of  Lord  L.*s,  and  a  young 
man,  possibly  a  secretary,  who  never  spoke.  Quiet  d., 
not  at  all  remarkable.  Plenty  of  talk — he  talked  well, 
but  as  one  who  had  said  the  same  things  before.  But 
there  were  two  or  three  points.  Said  Derby  was  a 
great  nobleman,  but  not  a  great  gentleman — cynical — 
and  instanced  his  saying  loud  to  Mrs.  Gladstone  when 
coming  out  of  the  Chapel  Royal,  '  You  didn't  succeed 
in  that  Ionian  business.*  '  So  unkind,'  she  said  to 
Lord  L.,  *  when  we  had  done  our  very  best.'  The  man, 
D(erby),  was  the  one  who  of  everybody  L.  L.  had 
known  best  deserved  to  be  called  '  clever.'  Good 
critic,  and  his  scholarship  elegant,  but  of  the  Eton-boy 
type.  L.  L.,  in  speaking  of  the  Byron  scandal,  said  he 
knew  Mrs.  Leigh,  and  believed  in  her  innocence. 
Thought  that  nobody  of  the  new  generation  read  the 
wtitings  of  the  old.     Thought  I  did  not  look  more  than 

1  *  His  first  and  last  meeting  with  Lord  Lytton,  who  died  three 

^     years  later. 

372 


THE   "SUCCOUR  DODGE" 

40 — ^but  I  do.  Spoke  well  about  Shakespeare's  want  of 
art,  without  which  he  could  do,  having  ruined  imitators, 
who  could  not.  Some  fun  about  no  end  of  big  men 
who  had  come  from  Norfolk — I  mean  celebrities — L. 
asked  my  county — I  said  London.  Says  his  work 
dwells  in  his  mind  a  long  time  before  he  writes,  but  that 
he  writes  very  fast — and  smokes  a  great  deal — pipes. 
We  had  a  cigar  after  d.  There — I  left  room  to  note 
anything  of  a  meeting  I  am  glad  to  have  had,  but 
though  I  saw  a  good  deal  of  him,  there  is  not  much  to  set 
down.  It  is  interesting  to  have  met  the  man  whose 
writings  I  have  been  reading  for  30  years,  and  who 
had  something  to  do  with  giving  me  ideas  as  to  form 
in  fiction.  Left  with  Cox,  as  soon  as  my  faithful 
Target  *  was  announced,  and  L.  L.  was  quite  cordial 
and  so  on.     E.  much  pleased  that  I  had  been." 

"  Oct.  31s/. 

''  Reading  Petherick's  Nilef  book,  just  out — a  very 
uncomfortable  story — he  gets  through  hideous  bother 
to  reach  Speke  and  Grant,  and  they  all  but  cut  him, 
and  Speke  refuses  to  recognize  the  '  succour  dodge.' 
Grant,  in  his  book,  says  that  P.  went  about  his  ivory 
trade  instead  of  pushing  on,  which  P.  furiously  denies." 

♦  «  4e  3(c 

"  Reading    Catullus — and    Disraeli's    '  Tancred  ' — 
what  good  things,  motSj  there  are  in  this." 

S.  B.  TO  Mrs.  Frank  Romer  (Mrs.  Jopling  Rowe). 

"  Sunday,  Oct.  17th,  1869. 

"  I  want  some  inspiration  awfully.  I  have  under- 
taken to  write  something  for  the  Illustrated  for  Xmas — 
in  fact,  two  somethings.     One  will  be  easy,  as  I  and  the 

•  *  The  cab-driver,  whom  he  employed  for  years. 
t  John  and  Mrs.  Petherick's  "  Travels  in  Central  Africa," 

373 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

artist  devised  the  picture  together.  But  the  other 
relates  to  the  coloured  picture,  which  will  be  pretty 
(keep  the  subject  to  yourself  for  business  reasons),  and 
represents  a  young  lady  tying  up  her  garter.  She  is 
about  four,  I  take  it.  I  must  take  council,  or  rather 
counsel,  how  to  treat  this  important  work.  Having 
never  worn  the  article,  I  am  at  a  loss  for  the  emotions 
connected  therewith,  but  there  was  a  Miss  Sarah  Carter 
that  may  help  me.  Brighton  has  been  very  pleasant, 
but  crammed,  and  fearfully  dear.  Only  yesterday 
came  the  most  violent  rain-storm  I  ever  saw.  Just  as 
it  was  over  in  came  Helen  (your  subject)  and  Miss 
Chastelaine  that  was,  and  her  husband,  and  took  the 
rooms  that  we  were  vacating,  75  King's  Road.  I  came 
up,  dined  with  Uncle  Mark,  went  home  and  dressed, 
and  then  to  the  St.  James's  to  see  '  She  Stoops  to 
Conquer,'  worse  acted  than  I  ever  saw  it  done.  Theatre 
odious  and  odorous  with  new  paint.  A  really  pretty 
drop  scene  which  I  should  like  you  to  see,  and  the  piece 
exceedingly  well  mounted — if  you  would  like  to  be 
taken  some  night  I  will  obtain  places  for  you.  The 
Tony  Lumpkin  very  good  indeed.  The  new  Americans 
worse  than  bad.  No,  madam,  I  have  not  become  a 
goldsmith  that  I  might  eat  City  feasts,  though  they  are 
good  things,  but  that  I  may — on  second  thoughts, 
I  shall  keep  that  in  the  deep  recesses  of  my  heart,  until 
I  see  whether  it  comes  to  anything.  They  made  me 
a  *  citizen '  in  a  room  hung  with  fine  old  copies  of 
Hogarth's  '  Apprentices,'  kept  there  to  warn  and 
encourage  the  young,  and  they  gave  me  a  book  of 
*  Rules  for  Conduct  in  Life,'  which  are  excellent,  and 
would  perfectly  unfit  me  for  any  Life  I  am  likely  to  be 
able  to  lead.  So  I  have  given  them  to  a  rich  but  honest 
friend. 

"  We  have  come  up — the  carpets  are  down — and 
we  have  settled  for  the  winter.     I  hope  you  will  find 

374 


THE  QUEEN  THREATENED 

your  way  over,  though  it  is  not  for  one  artist  to 
suggest  to  another  to  strike  work — but  I  do  hope  it 
nevertheless. 

''  Always  yours  faithfully, 

"  Shirley  Brooks. 
''  Mrs.  F.  Romer,  Jun.'' 

"  Nov.  3rd. 

"  B.  &  E.  have  been  moving  for  an  injunction  to  stop 
a  rubbishy  thing  called  Punch  and  Judy^  but  V.-C. 
Malins  would  not  give  in.  He,  however,  complimented 
Punch  hugely.     I  am  sorry  they  moved  in  the  matter/' 

"  Nov.  5th. 

''  Blackfriars  new  bridge  is  to  be  opened  to-morrow. 
Wrote  for  Punch  a  scene,  with  Dr.  Johnson  in  it — he 
fought  Gwyn'splan  for  the  first  bridge — against  Mylne's. 
N.B. — I  went  with  M.  L.  to  see  the  first  stone  of  this 
one,  Joseph  Cubitt's,  laid.  Vile  wet  day — the  Q.  has 
come  to  Windsor,  but  if  to-morrow's  like  this,  I  doubt 
her  going.  A  brutal  placard  has  been  put  out,  and 
copied  by  the  Globe  : 

"  '  TO  ALL  FENIANS. 

'^ '  Vive  la  Repuhlique  ! 

'' '  The  Queen  will  visit  the  City  in  state  on  Saturday, 
and  on  that  day  she  will  be  shot.     She  seldom  gives 
a  chance.     The  opportunity  won't  be  lost ! 
"  *  God  Save  Ireland  ! ' 

I  hope  the  beast  who  wrote  it  will  be  bitten  by  a  mad 
dog." 

**  Nov.  Sth. 

*'  At  6  d.  with  Sherard  Osborne,*  at  the  opening 
meeting  of  the  Geographers.     Sat  between  him  and  old 

*  At  this  time  managing  director  of  the  Telegraph  Construction  Co. 

375 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

Sir  Thomas  Freemantle,  b.  1798,  an  ancient  Conserva- 
tive official.  He  was  very  pleasant.  Hates  Disraeli 
for  his  conduct  to  Peel.  All  because  he  was  refused  the 
office  he  wanted,  '  and/  said  Sir  T.  naively,  '  he  was 
not  then  by  any  means  popular,  or  a  power,  and  it  was 
not  to  be  expected  Peel  would  disappoint  the  son  of  a 
big  man,  or  of  a  staunch  supporter,  for  D.*s  sake/ 
There  spoke  Old  England's  genius.  D[israeli]  very 
cold  to  the  young  men  of  his  party — never  asks  them 
to  dinner.  On  S.  O.'s  left  was  the  Duke  of  Wellington, 
a  comic  copy  of  his  father.  Rather  deaf.  Has  odd 
amatory  tastes.  I  determined,  as  matter  of  curiosity, 
to  speak  to  him,  and  I  sat  by  him  at  the  meeting,  and 
told  him  some  things  he  could  not  hear  from  the 
speakers.  Had  a  handshake  from  the  son  of  the  great 
duke — rather  a  diluted  glory.  Introduced  to  Sir 
Bartle  Frere,  whose  speech  and  manner  give  no  idea  of 
his  high  talent.  Meeting  (Mrs.  Burton  there,  and  angry 
that  enough  was  not  said  about  Richard),  very  hot, 
and  Livingstone  letter,  1868,  rather  dull  except  that 
it  had  a  '  querulous  *  reference  to  Hberties  that  had  been 
taken  with  his  Geography,  but  it  was  not  clear  what 
he  meant,  and  the  discussion  was  awkward.  Osborne 
was  sure  L.  would  meet  Baker.  Sir  Roderick*  (very 
Pecksniffian,  I  think ;  perhaps  wrong.  I  know  not. 
It  may  have  been  old  world  habit,)  was  sure  he  would 
not.     Home  early.'* 

"  Nov.  lOth. 

*'  Punch  d.  Much  fun  with  dear  old  Ponny  as  usual. 
He  said  that  having  been  consulted  by  M.  L.  at  the 
time  of  my  engagement,  he  had  opposed  it,  because 
I  was  only  a  magazine  writer,  and  had  not  the  art  of 
making  the  pointed  paragraphs  required  in  Punch, 
but  he  gravely  allowed  that  he  had  been  wrong.     I  said 

♦  Murchison. 

376 


MARK    LEMON    AND    SHIRLEY    BROOKS 

Portion  of  a  cut  which  appeared  in  "  Punch's  " 

rival,  "  Fun,"  {Nov.  1869).     Shirley  pasted 

this  in  his  diary  and  wrote  "  Highly 

civil  writing  about  ws  " 


1 


4 


HANDSOME  ISABEL  BURTON 

that  when  verses  on  my  death  had  to  appear  in  Punch 

Tom  T.  should  not  do  them,  and  I  desired  that  Kiki 

should.     Very  likely  he  will/' 

*  *  *  * 

''  When  we  had  settled  our  cut,  against  Ayrton, 
who  has  been  making  himself  an  ass  by  explaining 
that  his  duty  as  Chief  Commissioner  of  Works  was  only 
to  check  expenditure,*  we  took  the  Suez  subject  which 
I  had  urged  on  M.  L.,  and  T.  T.  suggested  a  very  good 
thing — view  from  top  of  Pyramid/' 

"  Nov.  13th. 

*'  A  letter  from  Mrs.  Burton  in  the  Times.  Wrote, 
chiefly  to  please  that  handsome  Isabel,  a  Punch 
paragraph  thereon,  f' 

iic  ♦  ♦  ♦ 

*'  Saw  T.  Taylor's  and  Dubourg's  play,  '  New  Men 
and  Old  Acres.'  Too  much  talk  and  too  little  action, 
and  '  situations '  mixed,  but  a  very  pleasant,  evenly- 
written  piece,  with  an  agreeable  story,  and  Madge 
Robertson  (Mrs.  Kendal)  charming — the  Robertson 
manner,  and  talk,  hath  been  transferred  to  the  Hay- 
market.  Tom,  et  uXj  in  next  box,  but  we  did  not  know 
it  (E.  thought  it  was  so,  however),  and  we  congratulated 
them,  coming  away.     Glad  I  went.'* 

"  Nov.  Uth. 

''  Set  my  books  in  order,  and  read  and  burned  a  good 
many  of  my  letters  to  my  father.     Without  vaunt  I 

*  Following  [Sir]  Henry  Layard  in  that  office,  Ayrton's  appoint- 
ment was  anything  but  popular.  The  cartoon  was  entitled  "  Our 
New  (B)aedile/'  and  he  was  made  to  say,  "  I  don't  know  no  think 
about  hart,  and  painters,  an*  sculpchers,  an'  harchitex,  an'  market 
gardeners,  an'  such  Hke.  My  dooty's  to  take  care  of  the  money.** 
He  was  as  much  out  of  sympathy  with  expending  pubUc  funds  on 
elevating  the  pubHc  taste  as  his  predecessor  had  been  the  reverse. 

I  Vide  ''  A  Card  from  the  Isle  of  Africa,"  Punch,  Nov.  20th, 

377 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

may  set  down  that  I  was  a  very  faithful  correspondent, 
and  that   I   find  no  evidence    of    having  ever  been 
betrayed,  under  the  repeated  provocations,  into  any 
departure  from  the  gentleness  due  to  him/* 
"  Nov.  15th. 
*'  Letter  from  another  unexpected  quarter.     Emma 

E ,  of  the  Lovely  Eyes,  sends  me  a  MS.     But  it 

won't  do,  poor  child.'* 

"  Nov.  llth. 

"  Wrote  Emma  E a  kind  and  sincere  letter, 

which  ought  not  to  annoy  her.  Those  eyes  are  too 
pretty  to  be  dimmed.'* 

From  which  we  see  that,  Hke  Thackeray,  he,  when 
acting  editor,  suffered  from  ''  thorns  in  the  cushion.** 

"  Nov.  20th. 

''  Sent  poor  old  R £1.     He  says  he  never  cared 

much  for  life,  and  now  is  quite  ready  to  die,  but  doesn*t 
wish  to  be  starved.  This  is  reasonable,  and  though 
I  ought  not  to  give  away  money,  I  think  I  may  be 
pardoned  this  time.*' 

"  Nov.  22nd. 

*'  Beastly  day,  but  we  went  at  night  to  see  a  new 
thing,  by  Gilbert,  at  German  Reed*s.  It*s  called 
'  Ages  Ago.*  Pictures  come  out  and  talk.  The  best 
thing  of  the  opera  sort  he  has  had,  and  Clay*s  music 
good.  Some  smart  hits  at  the  R.  Academy.  Author 
called.** 

"  Nov.  23rd. 

'*  Bought  a  translation  of  Livy,  and  a  very  good 
2.  V.  Churchill,  the  other  day,  for  4s.  They  came  to-day 
and  I  instantly  found  a  quotation  for  use.  Books 
easily  pay  their  cost.  .  .  . 

'*  We  d.  first  time  at  Tom  Wood's,  2  Gordon  Square. 
Such  a  pretty  dining-room,  mediaeval.     That  very  nice 

378 


I 


"CAN  NOTHING  BE  DONE?" 

Newcastle-on-Tyne  girl,  whom  I  met  at  Coleman's 
with  them,  Miss  L.  H.  We  are  great  aUies,  considering 
we  have  met  twice  only,  but  she  is  one  of  those  girls 
whom  one  likes  at  once.  After  d.  she  and  I  did 
nonsense,  meeting  in  the  middle  of  the  room,  and  trying 
to  say  *  The  Pope  is  dead,'  *  I  am  very  sorry,'  without 
laughing,  but  we  couldn't.  She  asked  for  my  photo- 
graph, which  I  sent  her  next  day.  If  she  writes  as 
pleasantly  as  she  talks  and  smiles  I  should  Hke  to  hear 
from  her." 

"  Nov.  25th. 

**  Fenian    scoundrels    in    Tipperary    have    elected 
O' Donovan  Rossa,  a  convict  in  gaol.     O,  dear  Ohver 
Cromwell." 
"  Nov.  21th. 

''  Mrs.  H.  told  E.  of  an  old  lady  who  considers 
child-having  the  great  duty  and  happiness  of  life,  and 
who,  hearing  that  Mrs.  Wolf  en  had  been  married  four 
years,  and  had  had  no  child,  said,  with  great  anxiety, 
*  Dear  me,  can  nothing  be  done  ? '  " 
"  Dec.  3rd. 

**  Wrote  as  usual.  At  end  of  work  tried  to  do  some 
verse  about  Grisi,  but  the  thing  would  not  shape  itself 
— jotted  some  ideas,  if  they  can  be  called  so — they  were 
but  expressions — and  next  morning  they  fell  into  place 
very  easily,  the  truth  being,  I  suppose,  that  to-day 
I  had  been  at  prose  all  day,  and  also  that  I  was  tired." 

'"GIULIA  GRISI.* 

"  *  Nay,  no  elegies  nor  dirges  ! 
Let  thy  name  recall  the  surges. 
Waves  of  song,  whose  magic  play 
Swept  our  very  souls  away : 
And  the  memories  of  the  days 
When  to  name  thee  was  to  praise ; 

*  Shirley  had  been  introduced  to  her  at  Whitby  in  1864. 

37^ 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

Visions  of  a  queenly  grace, 
Glo wings  of  a  radiant  face, 
Perfect  brow — we  deemed  it  proud 
When  it  wore  the  thunder-cloud ; 
Yet  a  brow  might  softly  rest 
On  a  gladdened  lover's  breast. 
Were  thy  song  a  Passion-gush, 
Were  it  Hatred's  torrent-rush, 
Were  it  burst  of  quivering  Woe, 
Or  a  Sorrow  soft  and  low. 
Were  it  Mischief's  harmless  wiles. 
Or  wild  Mirth  and  sparkling  smiles. 
Art's  High  Priestess  !   at  her  shrine 
Ne'er  was  truer  guard  than  thine. 
Were  it  Love  or  were  it  Hate, 
It  was  thine,  and  it  was  great. 
Glorious  Woman — ^Uke  to  thee 
We  have  seen  not,  nor  shall  see. 
Lost  the  Love,  the  Hate,  the  Mirth — 
*  *  * 

Light  upon  thee  He  the  earth  ! '  " 

"  Dec.  5th. 

**  Read  the  MS.  E.  L.  has  sent  me.  It  won*t  do,  she 
can't  write,  yet,  at  all  events,  but  it  has  a  vitaUty, 
because  it  is  done  with  the  object  of  sketching  a 
villain  whom  she  hates  with  all  her  might.  She  sums 
him  up  as  '  vengeful,  impure,  and  remorseless,  a  repul- 
sive compound  of  unscrupulousness,  selfishness,  petty 
treachery,  wily  deceit,  and  unfathomable  dishonour.' 
And  one  knows  what  it  all  means.  Wrote  her  a  long 
letter — for  she  is  a  pretty  woman — told  her  very 
candidly  the  faults  of  the  thing,  but  candied  it,  also 
a  little — one  ought,  if  one  gives  a  woman  the  truth  at 
aU,  to  make  it  verite  sucree,  poor  dear." 

'*  Dec.  6ih. 

^'  Wrote  M.  L.,  who  has  written  wisely  and  well  (in 

m 


CHRISTINE   NILSSON 

London  Society)  about  Xmas.  I  know  he  was  think- 
ing of  me,  who  have  often  in  fun  scoffed  at  Xmas 
geniaHties  as  shams,  so  I  desired  to  give  him  the  httle 
triumph  of  knowing  that  I  had  seen  it — a  good  old 
feUow.  If  he  can  be  thankful  at  the  season,  others 
should." 

"  Dec.  10th. 

'*  Woke  with  a  beast  of  a  pain  in  my  wrist,  right 
wrist,  too.  Lucky  my  chief  work  is  done.  Somehow 
managed  to  write  H.  N.  finish,  staccato  fashion.  But 
when  I  think  of  poor  Adelaide,  who  was  found  washing 
stairs  with  her  legs  swollen  into  elephantine  size,  I  am 
ashamed  of  caring  about  a  wrist-grip.  But  I  do  care — 
hating  all  disqualifying  pain.  Next,  scratched  away 
Era,  and  got  it  done  very  well.  Pleasant  letters  from 
Theod.  Martin,  Carruthers,  and  Russell,  of  the 
Liverpool  Daily  Post,  who  thanks  me  for  something 
in  Punch  against  Lord  Sandon  (who  emitted  some 
impertinence  about  journalists),  and  says  it  is  in  the 
spirit  which  has  made  me  '  the  favourite  champion 
of  the  profession.*     Am  I  ?     I  didn't  know.*' 

"  Dec.  19th. 

*'  Walked  to  Jarrett's,  was  ordered  by  Miss  J.  at  6 
sharp,  but  only  a  few  had  come,  and  we  did  not  dine 
till  past  7.  A  much  pleasanter  evening  than  I  had 
expected,  for  Christine  Nilsson  came,  and  I  took  her 
into  d.  and  sat  between  her  and  Louise  Jarrett.  She 
is  handsome,  perfectly  unaffected  (was  so  to-day  at  all 
events),  spoke  of  her  peasant  habits,  and  took  off 
her  ring  to  give  me  a  clutch,  to  show  how  strong  she 
was,  from  cutting  wood  for  fires  as  a  girl.  A  hard 
expression,  too,  when  not  talking  or  smiling.  Light 
eyes,  fair  hair,  tall,  and  I  should  think  well  made. 
We  got  on  capitally.  Caused  myself  to  be  made 
known  as  Punch,  of  which  she  professes  admiration, 

381 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

and  asked  me  to  send  her  the  Almanac.  '  To  all  she 
smiles  extends  ' — quite  awake,  I  take  it.  Such  a  funny 
dinner — ^long  waits/' 

Shortly  before  this  date  Mrs.  Frank  Romer  had 
written  telling  him  that  her  little  boy  was  down  with 
scarlet  fever.  Notwithstanding  that  he  was  lamed  in 
his  writing  hand  with  gout,  he  wrote  her  the  following 
long  letter  of  sympathy  : — 

S.  B.  TO  Mrs.  F.  Romer  (Mrs.  Jopling  Rowe). 

"  17th  December,  1869. 

*'  My  dear  Mrs.  Frank, 

'*  Your  note  has  made  us  very  sad.  We  can  only 
assure  you  both,  and  it  is  needless,  of  our  heartiest 
sympathy.  It  makes  me  ashamed  of  feeling  petulant 
over  a  mere  gout  fit.  My  wife  says,  with  her  best  love, 
that  you  are  to  take  the  greatest  care  of  yourself,  to 
live  well,  and  keep  up  your  stamina,  and  to  get  a  whiff 
of  fresh  air  whenever  you  can,  if  it  is  only  five  minutes 
at  a  time.  We  have  had  so  much  illness  of  the  severest 
kind  with  our  boys,  both  of  whom  have  more  than  once 
been  in  extreme  peril,  that  we  can  enter  into  all  your 
feelings.  But  the  great  thing  is  to  keep  up  your  own 
spirits,  and  believe  that  all  is  going  well — and  it  will. 
Poor  little  Geoffrey — he  looked  the  last  sort  of  child 
that  ought  to  be  afflicted.  I  hope  you  will  soon  be  able 
to  give  a  good  account  of  him,  and  that  his  brother 
will  escape  the  fever.  It  is  most  hard  to  be  shut  up  in 
quarantine  :  the  du  Mauriers  were  for  the  same  cause, 
for  six  weeks  in  the  spring,  and  I  know  another  family 
tabooed  in  the  same  manner.  But  that  is  a  small  thing 
compared  to  the  anxiety  for  one's  child.  Again  I  say, 
beheve  that  we  deeply  sympathise  with  you.     It  is 

382 


"THE  BEST  THING  FROM  AMERICA" 

baffling  to  feel  that  that  is  all  one  can  do.  Except 
that  I  can  send  you  some  books,  to  help  your  evenings. 
I  will  look  through  my  shelves,  and  send  you  something 
by  the  Parcels  Delivery.  '  On  account '  I  forward  a 
dehghtful  book  which  I  fear  you  may  have  read,  but 
yet  it  will  bear  being  read  again,  the  best  thing  that  has 
come  from  America  for  years.*  I  think  I  can  guess 
at  your  tastes,  but  it  is  not  easy  to  say  what  one  cares 
to  read  in  time  of  trouble — anything  serious  the  mind 
asks  to  be  relieved  from,  and  anything  very  light  seems 
mocking  at  our  trouble,  but  I  shall  see.  This  occur- 
rence is  mortifying  to  us  in  another  way,  for  we  had 
fully  hoped  to  see  you  and  F.  with  us  at  some  little 
gathering  or  so,  this  Christmas,  and  your  names  and 
address  were  down  for  the  purpose,  but  this  is  only 
pleasure  deferred. 

''  We  dined  at  Sir  Henry  Thompson's  last  night,  to 
see  a  sort  of  test  of  the  acting  powers  of  a  young  lady, 
a  Miss  (Desmond)  Ryan.  She  played  in  *  Perfection,' 
the  Cork  leg  story — prettily,  but  a  drawing-room 
audience  are  the  worst  critics,  naturally.  We  shall 
dine  out  on  Xmas  Day,  we  are  too  small  a  party  to 
keep  the  feast  at  home,  and  we  go  on  the  Eve  to  Fred 
Evans's,  if  his  father  keeps  better.  Otherwise  we  shall 
be  about  as  quiet  as  you.  I  am  not  cynical,  I  hope, 
but  I  do  not  like  family  gatherings.  I  am  very  glad 
you  like  the  verses.  Have  you  read  the  Almanac — and 
the  Pocket-Book  ? — say  then.  In  fact,  if  I  knew  what 
you  don't  see,  I  could  send  you  papers,  and  it  is  no 
favour  (I  wish  I  could  do  you  one),  for  I  am  loaded  with 
periodicals,  and  it  is  only  the  bit  of  string.  Tell  Frank, 
with  my  best  regard,  that  I  have  pity  for  him  much, 
apart  from  his  anxiety,  for  a  husband  and  father  can 
do  so  little  in  a  sick  house,  however  good  his  intent  is, 

*  "  The  Autocrat  of  the  Breakfast  Table." 

383 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

and  he  is  almost  in  the  way.  I  write  with  some  pain 
and  difficulty,  and  rather  a  scrawl,  but  you  will  make 
out  most  of  it — so  with  our  united  best  messages. 

*'  Very  faithfully  yours, 

**  Shirley  Brooks." 
Sad  to  relate,  Shirley's  optimism  was  not  justified, 
for  the  little  boy  died  after  but  twelve  days'  illness. 
The  following  letter  was  dictated  to  one  of  his  sons  : — 

Ditto  to  Ditto. 

"  Thursday. 

''  My  dear  Mrs.  Romer, 

''  I  am  too  ill  to  be  able  to  write,  and  Mrs.  Brooks 
cannot  trust  herself  to  do  so.    Were  it  otherwise,  words 
were  worse  than  idle  in  presence  of  such  an  affliction. 
We  can  but  say  God  support  and  strengthen  you. 
*'  Yours  in  deep  sympathy, 

"  Shirley  Brooks.'' 

When  he  was  able  to  take  up  the  pen  again,  he 
wrote  : — 

Ditto  to  Ditto. 
"  My  dear  Mrs.  Frank, 

'*  I  should  have  writ  sooner,  but  it  is  only  within 
the  last  two  days  that  I  have  been  able  to  write  at  all, 
and  still,  as  you  see,  my  hand  is  not  free.  I  have  had 
a  very  tiresome  attack  in  the  most  tiresome  of  places, 
my  right  wrist.  I  hope  it  is  going  away.  I  went  out 
yesterday  for  the  first  time  for  a  week.  I  went  to  the 
*  Bedford.'  Mrs.  Lemon  was  there.  I  need  hardly  say 
how  you  were  alluded  to,  or  how  deep  was  the  regret 
that  visiting  you,  as  yet,  is  not  to  be. 

"  I  rejoice  that  you  think  of  going  out  of  town.     It 

384 


IN  RED  INK 

was,  of  course,  what  naturally  occurred  to  me,  as  the 
one  thing  for  you  to  do,  and  you  will  return  to  town 
to  a  new  place,  I  trust.  But  I  will  allude  no  more 
to  the  past.     Time  is  the  only  true  physician. 

*'  We  have  had  but  a  dull  Xmas — we  had  some 
friends  on  the  Eve,  and  had  things  been  otherwise,  you 
and  Frank  would  (had  you  pleased)  have  been  among 
them.  I,  of  course,  had  to  give  up  everything — even 
a  dinner  at  Sir  Henry  Thompson's  to  meet  Browning — 
however  he  was  ill  too,  and  did  not  go.  I  have  been 
able  to  do  nothing  but  read,  and  dictate  a  little.  In 
fact,  I  have  been  more  uncomfortable  than  for  a  very 
long  time.  I  will  write  again  when  I  can  do  so  with 
more  ease — if  you  leave  town  first  give  me  your 
address.  .  .  ." 

The  following  entry  in  the  Diary  is  in  red  ink,  and  is 
that  referred  to  at  the  beginning  of  this  chapter  : — 
"  Dec.  22nd. 

'*  The  doctor,  Mr.  Barker,  came,  and  I  casually 
mentioned  that  I  felt  in  walking,  a  shortness  of  breath. 
He  very  carefully  and  repeatedly  auscultated  me. 
He  said  I  had  an  obstruction  in  a  valve  of  my  heart — 
a  glutinous  deposit.  He  desired  me  not  to  walk  fast, 
or  to  run  upstairs.  I  said  I  was  surprised,  for  I  had 
been  most  carefully  examined  when  effecting  my  last 
assurance.  He  said  that  had  the  affair  then  existed, 
it  could  not  have  been  overlooked,  so  it  must  have  set 
up  since.  There  was  no  fatty  degeneration.  He  said 
that  there  was  no  need  to  believe  in  danger,  men  lived 
to  old  age  with  such  things,  but  I  must  be  careful,  and 
he  would  examine  me  again  in  a  month.'' 

The  entry  is  continued  in  black  ink  : — 
*'  So  !     Well,  I  have  no  clinging  to  life,  but  I  could 
wish,  D.V.,  to  live  to  place  the  boys  where  they  should 
be  earning  their  own  living,  and  they  will  have  had  a 

385 

26— (2297) 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

good  education.  Emily  is  very  careful,  and  could 
manage  on  the  assurance  money,  but  it  would  be  a 
difficult  life  for  her,  poor  child,  and  a  change,  unless 
she  married  again.  I  shall  say  nothing  about  it  yet, 
but  be  careful,  as  advised,  and  earn  every  sovereign 
I  can.  The  rest  is  with  Him,  Who  has  let  me  do  a  good 
deal  for  her  and  others,  and  may  be  pleased  to  let  me 
go  on  doing  it." 


386 


CHAPTER  XVII 

1870 — Last  Days  of  Mark  Lemon — His  Death — Editorship  of  Punch 
Offered  to  S.  B.  and  Accepted — Death  of  Charles  Dickens — 
S.  B.'s  Inauguration — Gone  ad  majores,  1870. 


HE  whole  of  January 
Shirley  was  ailing  and 
more  or  less  confined  to 
the  house.  Nevertheless 
he  continued  to  turn  out 
his  quantum  of  work, 
dictating  when  he  could 
not  write  with  his  own 
hand.  The  crisis  came 
on  January  26th,  when 
he  was  seized  in  heart 
and  leg  by  gout  and 
erysipelas.  For  ten  days 
he   lay  in  great  danger. 


387 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

Then  came  several  weeks  of  gradual  convalescence. 
But,  though  there  were  four  full  years  of  work  before 
him,  it  is  doubtful  whether  he  ever  recovered  his 
former  vigour.  On  the  top  of  his  illness  came  the 
shock  of  his  chiefs  death  and  the  assumption  of  new 
responsibilities — responsibilities  in  which  he  would 
have  revelled  in  his  vigorous  youth,  but  which  were 
now  to  prove  too  great  a  tax  upon  the  strength  of 
which  he  had  been  all  too  prodigal  in  the  past. 

On  March  22nd  he  is  able  to  get  back  to  his  beloved 
diary,  when  he  at  once  sets  to  work  to  ''  write  up  ** 
from  rough  notes  the  daily  events  of  the  preceding 
eight  weeks. 

Under  date  Jan.  19th  but  written  on  March  22nd. 

*'  Thank  God  !  Once  more  resume  entries.  I  write 
on  the  22nd  of  March,  Tuesday,  having  been  in  bed 
nearly  all  the  intermediate  time.  I  have  some  rough 
memoranda  of  the  days  before  I  was  taken  ill,  and  some 
entries  in  a  mem.  book  from  the  15th  February.  The 
longest  spell  of  illness  I  remember,  since  a  boy.  May 
it  have  done  me  good,  in  soul  and  in  body.  Of  the 
latter  I  am  assured  by  my  doctor — for  the  former 
I  shall  set  down  little,  as  yet,  save  that  I  have  had 
leisure  to  think  of  many  things,  and  these  thoughts 
were  not  aegri  somnia.  I  am  told  that  for  a  short  time, 
at  the  beginning,  I  was  in  danger.  Is  not  that  enough 
to  write  ? '' 

"  Jan.  26ih. 

'*  This  was  the  day,  or  rather  it  was  this  night,  that 
I  was  *  taken  ill,'  and  the  old  phrase  fits.  I  had  not 
meant  to  go  to  the  Punch  dinner,  for  I  had  a  bad  pain 
in  my  wrist,  and  the  weather  was  very  cold,  but  a  letter 
from  M.  L.,  saying  that  he  was  forbidden  to  come  to 

388 


SERIOUSLY  ILL 

town,  compelled  me  to  go.  I  attended,  and  the  cut 
was  my  suggestion.*  Came  home  in  a  close  cab, 
talked  a  good  while  with  E.  and  went  up.  As  I  began 
to  undress  I  was  seized  with  violent  shivers,  which 
lasted  a  long  time  after  I  was  in  bed.  I  have  no 
particular  recollection  of  details,  for  I  kept  no  notes, 
but  here  began  my  long  illness.*' 

"  Jan.  21th. 

'*  To-night  I  knocked  up,  and  the  doctor,  Edgar 
Barker,  was  sent  for.  And  E.  managed  to  see  Sir 
Henry  Thompson,  and  somehow  got  him  to  offer  to 
assist  E.  Barker,  which  gave  her  confidence,  and  which 
was  therefore  well.  I  think  that  it  was  to-night  that 
they  saw  me,  and  examined  my  legs.  On  the  left  there 
were  darkish  veins.  There  was  talk  of  erysipelas,  but 
this  was  soon  got  over.  But  I  afterwards  heard  that 
there  was  congestion,  or  rather  apprehended  con- 
gestion, of  the  liver,  and  that  there  was  doubt  as  to 
whether  the  doctors  would  succeed.  A  nurse  was 
ordered — I  have  never  had  one  since  I  was  a  child. 
And  so  I  was  regularly  laid  up,  with  all  the  sick-room 
appliances.  I  had  to  give  up  all  work,  which  was 
most  distressing  to  me,  but   somehow  things  shaped 

*  "  John  Bright's  New  Reform  BiU— '  Reform  Yourselves.'  " 
John  Bright  was  by  no  means  one  of  Punch's  favourites.  Neverthe- 
less the  truth  embodied  in  the  peroration  to  his  great  speech  at 
Birmingham  on  Jan.  11th  could  not  be  ignored.  "  If  we  could 
subtract,"  he  said,  "  from  the  ignorance,  the  poverty,  the  suffering, 
the  sickness  and  the  crime,  which  are  now  witnessed  amongst  us,  the 
ignorance,  the  poverty,  the  suffering  and  the  crime  which  are  caused 
by  one  single,  but  most  prevalent,  bad  habit  or  vice — the  drinking 
needlessly  of  that  which  destroys  body  and  mind  and  home  and 
family — do  we  not  aU  feel  that  this  country  would  be  changed,  and 
so  changed  for  the  better,  that  it  would  be  almost  impossible  for  us 
to  know  it  again  ?  " 

389 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

themselves,  and  every  one  behaved  very   kindly  and 
considerately/' 

"  Jan.  29th. 

''  By  means  of  an  arrangement  with  Grindlays,  I 
paid  my  chief  Life  Assurance,  and  the  thought  that  the 
receipt  was  in  the  tin  box  behind  my  head  comforted 
me  more,  during  my  illness,  than  I  can  well  say/' 

"  Feb.  3rd. 

*'  I  caused  the  paragraph  below  to  be  put  into  the 
Pall  Mall,  partly  to  save  myself  trouble,  partly  because 
such  exaggerated  nonsense  gets  into  the  papers.  It 
was  copied,  of  course,  and  produced  a  crop  of 
civilities,  more  or  less  genuine. 

'^  Pall  Mall  Gazette  (written  in  red  ink). 
"  '  We  regret  to  hear  that  Mr.  Shirley  Brooks  is  l5ang 
seriously  ill  at  his  house  in  the  Regent's  Park.  Over- 
work and  an  attack  of  gout  had  unfavourably  prepared 
Mr.  Brooks  for  the  cold  of  last  week,  and  on  Wednesday 
week  (after  presiding  at  the  Punch  dinner,  in  the 
absence  from  illness  of  Mr.  Mark  Lemon),  Mr.  Brooks 
was  seized  with  spasms  and  shiverings,  which  pros- 
trated him.  His  medical  advisers  report  favourably 
of  the  case,  but  have  strictly  forbidden  the  least 
attention  to  business  or  the  reception  of  visitors.'  " 

Under  date  Feb.  4th  he  pastes  into  the  diary  the 
following  paragraph  written  by  J.  W.  Davison,  in  the 
Musical  World  : — 

''  All  the  world  will  regret  that  Mr.  Shirley  Brooks 
has  been  seriously  ill ;  all  the  world  will  rejoice  that 
our  best  modem  essayist  and  brightest  conversational 
wit  is  pronounced  by  Sir  Henry  Thompson  to  be 
out  of  danger." 
.   ,  39Q 


A  SICK  MAN'S   JOKE 

*'  Feb.  16lh. 

*'  N.B. — I  have  always,  during  my  illness,  read  the 
papers  thoroughly." 

"  Feb.  mh. 

''  My  knees  became  gouty,  and  there  was  a  relapse, 
as  they  called  it.  .  .  .  Sent  Kiki  a  cut,  good,  about 
this,  but,  as  usual,  an  artist  never  sees  what  you  see."* 

"  March  3rd. 

"  Good  story  about  Nathaniel  Cooke  f  and  all  his 
kin  going  to  hear  N.  C.'s  son,  a  young  parson,  preach 
his  first  sermon,  and  the  youth's  text  being  '  Suffer 
me  first  to  go  and  bury  my  father.'  Mrs.  C.  is  said 
to  have  suggested  his  being  stopped !  " 

"  March  5th. 

"  A  bad  day  for  me.  Miss  Matthews  kindly  brought 
the  carriage,  with  wraps,  etc.,  and  E.  and  I  went  with 
her  for  a  drive  twice  round  the  Park.  I  enjoyed  it 
hugely,  but  there  was  an  E.  wind,  which  brought  back 
the  gout,  and  sent  me  back  to  bed  for  many  days." 

"  March  6th. 

**  Got  up,  but  found  myself  so  bad  that  I  went  to 
bed  again." 

"  March  \2th. 

"  A  civility  in  the  Press,  but  it  says  I  have  no  humour. 
It  lies.     I  am  overflowing  with  humour,  but  I  don't 

*  Du  Maurier  did  see  it  after  many  days,  vide  "  The  Invalid 
Author,"  on  April  20th.     The  legend  runs  as  follows : — 

"  Wife.  '  Why,  nurse  is  reading  a  book,  darhng !  Who  gave  it  her  ?  * 

"  Husband  (in  bed).     *  I  did,  my  dear.' 

"  Wife.     '  What  book  is  it  ?  ' 

"  Husband.     '  It's  my  last.' 

"  Wife.  '  Darhng  !  when  you  knew  how  important  it  is  that  she 
shouldn't  go  to  sleep  .'  *  " 

f  Herbert  Ingram's  partner. 

391 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

show  it !  Heard  from  Robert  Cooke — am  engaged  to 
lecture  on  the  5th  prox.,  and  am  as  hkely  to  pull  in 
the  O.  and  C.  boat  race." 

"  March  16th. 

''  Sent  Keene,  Charles,  an  idea  for  a  cut.  It  came 
out  in  No.  1499,  '  Emollit  mores y'  only  the  meaning  of 
the  Latin  is  destroyed  by  the  speaker  not  being  a 
votary  of  '  art.'  *'  * 

*'  March  mh. 

''  M.  L.  had  concocted  a  very  kind  paragraph  about 
me  and  the  '  Essence  of  P/  for  Punch ,  but  I  thought 
it  too  kind  for  such  a  paper,  so  cut  it  down  to  a  few 
words.  He  says  the  '  Essence  '  is  perpetually  bothered 
for.  A  pensive  pubUc  must  wait — as  I  do.'* 
"  April  3rd. 

''  There  is  a  book  by  one  Cecil  Hay,  full  of  personal 
sketches,  and  I  am  said  to  figure  therein  as  *  Mr. 
Synical  Suave.'  Didn't  know  that  I  was  either,  mats 
n'importe."'\ 

"  April  1th. 

''  Barker  came,  saw  me  in  my  den,  and  after  a  careful 
examination,  declared  me  to  be  '  Renovated,  and 
discharged  cured,'  and  said  he  should  not  visit  me 
again.  Listened  to  my  heart,  and  said  it  was  exactly 
as  when  he  first  did  so,  that  this  was  a  good  sign,  as  it 
had  been  '  tried  '  by  the  illness.  But  I  am  not  to  run 
fast,  or  upstairs.  I  thanked  him  for  all  his  attention, 
of  course.    D.  G.  again  and  always." 

*'  April  nth.  

'*  Walked  out,  received  the  homage  of  my  tradesmen, 
Williams  especially  bawling  over  his  fishes  that  he  was 
glad  to  see  me." 

*  Vide  Punch,  April  2nd,  p.  136. 
t  Quoted  in  a  previous  chapter. 

392 


WOMEN'S  SUFFRAGE 

*'  April  13th. 

"  The  day  being  warm,  I  went  off  to  Whitefriars,  and 
d.  with  Punch,  first  time  since  26th  Jan.  Cordially 
welcomed  by  the  unusually  small  party — there  were 
M.  L.,  P.  L.,  Sketchley,  W.  H.  B.,  (Fred  away  because 
of  Pater,  but  they  say  needlessly  alarmed),  S.  B.,  H.  M., 
and  Jackides.  I  suggested  my  cut  of  '  Mrs.  Phaeton,' 
which  was  assented  to.'** 
"  April  leth. 

*'  Went  with  E.  to  the  opening  of  the  new  Vaudeville. 
.  .  .     Montagu  spoke  my  Address,  not  very  perfectly, 
but  with  plaudit,  and  then  we  came  away.'^f 
"  April  Wh. 

'*  Tenniel  has  made  a  fine  double  cut  of  Mrs.  Phaeton, 
but  it  wants  a  word  or  two  of  explanation.'* 
"  April  22nd. 

''  Wrote  '  Essence  of  Parliament  'J — as  I  write  the 
proof  is  brought  me." 

"  April  29th. 

*'  At  3  to  the  Private  View  of  the  Royal  Academy. 
Everybody  there,  and  it  was  a  sort  of  re-entry  into 
society  for  me — I  was  congratulated  to  an  enormous 
extent." 

At  the  Private  View  he  has  the  pleasure  of  seeing 
Mrs.  Frank  Romer's  first  Academy  picture,  and, 
determined  that  his  young  friend's  picture  should  not 

*  This  cartoon  might  fitly  be  pubUshed  to-day.  It  illustrates  the 
growing  desire  on  the  part  of  women  to  obtain  the  electoral  franchise. 
Phaeton,  a  woman,  is  represented  driving  the  chariot  of  the  sun, 
to  which  are  harnessed  three  steeds  named  "  Taxation,"  **  Foreign 
Affairs,"  and  "  Legislation."     John  Bull  stands  by  nursing  a  baby. 

t  H.  J.  Montague,  at  that  time  partner  in  the  Vaudeville.  Shirley 
was  often  weak  about  the  spelling  of  names. 

I  For  the  first  time  since  his  illness,  to  which  in  the  first  paragraphs 
he  makes  covert  allusion. 

393 


SHIRLEY   BROOKS 

be  overlooked,  does  a  little  pulling  of  the  strings  on  her 
behalf  : — 

S.  B.  TO  Mrs.  F.  Romer  (Mrs.  Jopling  Rowe). 

"  18/^  May,  1870. 

"  My  dear  Mrs.  Frank, 

*'  I  was  glad  to  see  this  notice  (enclosed),  slight  as  it 
is,  for  I  mentioned  the  picture  to  the  critic  at  the 
Private  View,  and  feared  he  had  forgotten  it.  I  also 
spoke  to  Sala,  he  put  in  a  word,  but  I  hope  he  will 
give  another  notice.  The  Era  shall  be  rectified  this 
week,*  and  I  have  also  written  to  another  quarter. 
You  don't  want  this,  as  you  are  making  your  way 
capitally  by  yourself,  but  in  this  bustling  age  all  these 
things  have  a  certain  use. 

''  Always  yours  faithfully, 

*'  Shirley  Brooks. 

S.  B.  TO  Miss  Matthews. 

"6  Kent  Terrace, 

"  Regent's  Park, 
"  N.W. 
"  Monday. 
"  Wind,  N.N.N. 
"  E.E.E. 
"  9th  May,  1870.  "  Fires. 

'*  My  dear  Miss  Matthews, 

^  ^  :^  an  HH 

*'  The  Bishop  came,  but  though  very  affable,  he  did  not 
tell  me  any  very  good  stories — now  '  S.  Winchester  '  f 
is  full  of  them — (I  mean  '  S.  Winton,'  by  the  way),  but 
I  heard  one  from  a  lady.     She  was  remarking,  to  a  sort 


*  It  had  "  masculinified  "  the  young  artist's  name. 
t  Samuel  Wilberforce. 

394 


ILLNESS   OF  MARK  LEMON 

of  petitioner  for  her  charity,  on  the  state  of  his  ward- 
robe, and  he  said,  ''  Yes,  my  lady.  I  dresses  with  a 
needle,  and  I  undresses  with  a  knife." 

''  I  dare  say  that  you  have  been  up  to  town,  and  have 
seen  the  Pictures,  so  I  need  say  nothing  about  the 
Private  View.  There  seemed  '  a  many '  good  things, 
but  nothing  great,  and  Gerome's  '  Execution  of  Ney  ' 
is  the  most  powerful  work  in  the  rooms.  I  mentioned 
this  fact  to  sundry  Academicians,  who  did  not  seem 
to  see  it.*  .  .  . 

*'  Ever  yours  faithfully, 

'*  Shirley  Brooks." 

"  May  9th. 

"  Byron  f  is  in  a  rage,  because  the  Sunday  Times 
has  accused  him  of  plagiarism,  in  a  song  in  Punch — 
bosh,  but  we'll  kick  the  S.T.  when  the  kickable  region 
happens  to  turn  our  way." 

Mark  Lemon  was  now  lying  very  ill  at  Crawley. 

"  May  lOth. 

''  Resolved  to  go  and  see  dear  Mark  Lemon,  though 
not  without  misgivings  lest  the  visit  should  perturb 
him.  Down  by  11.40  from  Victoria.  Just  at  the  gate 
saw  Lally,  who  went  back  with  me.  M.  L.  was  in  the 
summer-house,  so  I  first  went  into  the  parlour.  They 
were  rejoiced  to  see  me.  Polly  flew  at  me — there  were 
Mrs.  L.,  Betty,  Katie.  Thy  did  not  think  that  M. 
wanted  warning,  so  I  went  out  to  him.  I  was  not  much 
shocked  at  his  appearance,  though  he  looked  haggard, 
and  there  were  swellings  under  his  eyes.  .  .  . 

'*...!  am  now  glad  I  went  down,  though  to  see 
my  poor  friend  so  is  distressing.  I  think  it  did  him 
good  to  see  me — his  farewell  was  very  affectionate. 

*  Not  unnaturally,  Gerome  being  a  Frenchman  ! 

t  H.  J.  Byron,  the  playwright,  who  was  a  casual  contributor. 

393 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

'  I  shall  not  see  you  again  this  week/  he  said.  '  No/ 
I  said,  *  I  shall  not  come  down  again  this  week/  ''* 

''May2lst. 

'*  Met  E.  and  we  went  down  to  the  College  to  see  the 
athletics.  Very  splendid  day,  but  awfully  hot.  Rego, 
who  was  looking  particularly  well,  and  may  I  say, 
handsome,  ran,  but  as  he  expected,  not  to  any  great 
purpose,  but  he  was  third  in  the  great  Consolation  race. 
I  lounged  about,  smoked,  had  slight  refreshments, 
chatted,  and  watched  the  excellent  sports,  and  should 
have  been  quite  happy  but  that  I  had  to  get  back  for 
Punch,  and  expected  to  miss  the  late  train.  Dr. 
Schmidt  asked  me  to  make  a  speech  when  the  prizes 
were  given  away.  I  could  not  refuse,  and  it  was  not 
bad  fun,  sitting  in  the  centre  of  the  crowd  of  boys 
and  of  ladies.  I  never  spoke  in  the  open-air  before. 
E.  said  '  it  was  a  capital  speech  ' — it  was  very  short.*' 

"  May  22nd. 

'*  Since  writing  the  above  lines  I  have  lost  the  oldest 
and  dearest  friend  I  had  in  the  world,  except  my  wife. 
Mark  Lemon  died  rather  before  8  in  the  morning  of 
Monday  the  23rd.  Requiescat  in  pace  !  A  better  man, 
with  a  good  man's  faults,  which  are  part  of  his  good- 
ness, I  have  never  known.  Charles  Sabine  was  as 
good.  But  I  will  write  down  nothing,  as  yet,  but 
occurrences.  I  shall  be  able  to  print  something,  and 
I  will  not  forestall.*' 

"  May  23rd. 

**  Letter  from  Polly  Lemon,  with  a  kind  message 
from  Mark,  dictated  yesterday.  Telegram  from  Harry, 
announcing  his  '  good  father's '  death.  Aye,  he  was 
a  good  father.  .  .  . 

"...  Business  must  be  done,  though  friends  die, 

♦  This  was  their  last  meeting. 

39^ 


DEATH   OF  MARK   LEMON 

and  so  it  will  be  when  I  am  gone.  We  tried  to  make 
a  picture,  on  which  I  had  written  T.  on  Sunday,  but  we 
were  out  of  tune.  From  him  I  went  to  the  '  Bedford  ' 
for  a  few  minutes,  and  so  to  Whitefriars.  We  were  to 
have  met,  a  small  party,  to-night  at  the  '  Bedford,'  but 
this  was  put  off,  and  only  Tenniel  and  I,  and  B.  &  E. 
dined  in  a  private  room  at  the  '  Rainbow,*  upstairs. 
My  cut  was  adopted — about  the  race,  i.e.,  Punch  and 
various  characters  riding,  and  he  winning — neither  new 
nor  good,  but  good  enough  for  the  Derby  idiots — as 
I  now  think  'em — having  gone  to  7  or  8  Derbies.  We 
dropped  into  silence  at  times,  but  there  was  no  demon- 
stration of  sorrow — which  was  best.  .  .  .  Wrote  some 
lines  about  it,  to  Pall  Mall  Gazette,  which  Fred  sent 
and  which  appeared,  with  the  addition  I  asked  for, 
being  in  no  mood  to  turn  sentences.  Old  George 
Cruikshank  called  on  me  at  Whitefriars  to  express  his 
regret,  or  rather  to  talk  about  himself  and  end  with  a 
tea-total  moral,  which  I  snubbed.  Never  cared  for 
this  man,  and  yet  he  is  a  wondrous  artist  in  a  limited 
way.  E.  had  had  Lillie  with  her,  and  Ewing  had 
called,  and  also  written  to  offer  to  go  to  Crawley  and 
take  a  cast  with  a  view  to  a  bust.  It  would,  if  successful, 
be  a  good  thing  for  him,  and  pleasant  for  us/' 

"  May  24th. 

**  Thought  a  good  deal,  in  bed,  about  Ewing' s  pro- 
posal— were  men  only  concerned  it  would  be  matter 
of  course,  but  women  may  have  a  reluctance  to  have 
the  features  of  their  sacred  dead  touched,  although 
only  that  such  features  may  be  preserved  for  years. 
But  resolved  to  risk  it,  and  take  Ewing  down,  first 
sending  a  long  and  careful  preparatory  telegram  to 
Polly.  Down  with  Ewing  by  the  11.50,  and  Harry, 
much  disturbed  by  the  event,  met  us.  The  matter 
was  to  be  left  entirely  to  me.      I  would  know  what  He 

397 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

would  have  wished.  I  knew,  I  said,  that  he  would 
have  desired  that  those  who  loved  him  should  have  a 
memorial  of  him,  and  that  he  had  been  glad  when 
John  Leech's  face  had  been  so  preserved.  To  the 
Cottage.  Ewing,  with  fit  instinct,  waited  in  the 
garden  with  his  assistant.  I  saw  Lally,  Betty,  and 
Polly,  and  they  seemed — no,  they  were  comforted  in  a 
measure  by  seeing  me.  Then  I  went  into  the  drawing- 
room,  in  which  lay,  in  an  oak  shell,  the  remains  of  my 
dear  friend — very  noble  in  death.  The  cast  was 
taken  tenderly,  rapidly,  reverently,  and  Ewing  said 
that  it  was  admirable.  All  vestiges  of  the  work  were 
cleansed  utterly  away,  and  for  the  last  time,  having 
touched  hand  and  brow,  I  looked  at  my  friend  of  20 
years,  my  faithfullest  friend,  and  left  the  dead.  After 
the  hospitalities,  never  forgotten  there,  I  took  Ewing 
away,  to  leave  the  girls  with  their  mother,  and  we  went 
to  Lally' s,  and  smoked,  and  laughed  with  her  pretty 
children,  Daisy  and  Ethel,  till  4,  when  Ewing  went 
away  with  his  man.  Walked  about  the  garden  with  Polly 
(she  talked  excitedly  and  rapidly),  and  heard  much 
from  her,  and  I  also  heard  much  from  Harry.  Clear 
that  towards  the  very  last  day  there  were  wanderings, 
but  he  recovered  himself.  H.  thinks  that  his  last 
word  was  the  name  of  his  wife — and  it  may  well  have 
been.  She  could  not  see  me,  but  sent  me  all  loving 
messages — I  have  the  love  of  this  household.  The 
Rev.  Mr.  Blaker  came,  and  at  Polly's  wish,  I  drove  over 
with  him  to  Ifield,  and  in  the  churchyard  looked  at  the 
places  which  would  serve  for  the  grave.  My  choice 
was  confirmed  by  Polly,  on  our  return.  B.  spoke  of 
the  enormous  good  the  Lemons  had  done  in  the  two 
parishes — much  more  than  money  could  do.  .  .  .  So 
for  the  last  time  I  left  Mark  Lemon  in  his  much-loved 
house." 

The  same  day  he  wrote  : — 

398 


LEMON^S  DEATH-MASK 

S.  B.  TO  Percival  Leigh. 

"  6  Kent  Terrace, 

"  Regent's  Park, 

"  N.W. 
"  Tuesday  (May  2Ath). 

'*  My  dear  Leigh, 

**  Thanks  for  your  kind  note.  For  myself,  I  am 
well  enough,  and  I  am  now  going  down  to  Crawley. 
I  would  willingly  have  delayed  my  visit,  but  there  is  a 
reason  for  its  being  paid  to-day,  which  I  will  tell  you 
hereafter.  It  is  not  easy,  it  is  hardly  possible,  to  realize 
what  has  occurred  or  that  we  shall  not  hear  the  genial 
voice  again — here — but  the  impression  deepens,  pain- 
fully, every  hour.  However,  moriendum  est  semel 
omnibus,  a  cold  consolation.  Happily  we  have  a 
better. 

"  Ever  yours  faithfully, 

"  S.  B. 

'*  Tenniel  and  I  have  hammered  out  a  double  cut 
which  he  thinks  he  can  make  effective. 

"  He  *  died  quite  gently  and  as  if  going  to  sleep.' 
"  P.  Leigh,  Esq." 

*'  May  26th. 

''  A  very  hard  day's  work,  to  get  free  for  to-morrow. 
Sent  paragraph  to  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette  as  to  the 
funeral.     Wrote 

'^  Leader  for  Illustrated. 

"  Memorial  of  M.  L.  for  Punch. 

"  The  H.  N.  for  India. 

*'The  Derby  prophecy  for  Punch. 

Ewing  wrote  to  ask  us  to  come  to-day  and  see  what  he 
had  done  towards  bust.  Of  course,  I  could  not  get 
away,  but  E.  went,  and  returned  with  a  most  favourable 
account.  ...     I  was  exceedingly  tired  to-day." 

399 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

This  is  what  he  wrote  in  the  Illustrated  London 
News  : — 

''NOTHING  IN  THE  PAPERS. 

"  I  devote  a  few  Knes,  only,  to  a  record — I  make  it 
nothing  more — of  a  death  which  cannot  as  yet  be  spoken 
of  in  this  column  with  any  effort  to  do  justice  to  the 
subject.  A  close  personal  friendship  of  more  than 
twenty  years  has  suddenly  ceased — Mark  Lemon  has 
been  called  to  his  rest.  Be  this  said,  and  nothing  else 
thereon,  by  one  who  had  hoped  that  many  another 
year  of  that  friendship  would  have  been  permitted 
by  the  Supreme  Will.  Hereafter,  some  attempt  will 
be  made  by  me  to  prepare  for  this  journal  a  memorial 
that  may  be  less  unworthy  of  the  event,  at  present  for 
me  and  for  many  another  an  affliction  which  has  to  be 
realised,  not  written  about.  Meantime,  I  venture,  in 
right  of  that  long  intimacy,  which  now  seems  to  have 
been  so  short,  to  say  to  those  who  have  already  given 
kindly  and  eloquent  public  utterance  to  their  regrets, 
that  such  testimony  of  honour  for  the  departed,  though 
it  cannot  console  those  mourners  whose  grief  is  most 
sacred  of  all,  has  yet  been  welcome  to  a  saddened  and 
a  darkened  home. 

"  S.  B." 

In  Punch  he  wrote  the  full-page  memorial  which  all 
can  read  and  of  which  the  following  must  here 
suffice  : — 

**  'Twas  his  pride  to  teach  us  so  to  bear 

Our  blades,  as  he  bore  his,  keep  the  edge  keen, 
But  strike  above  the  belt :    and  ever  wear, 

The  armour  of  a  conscience  clear  and  clean. 
«  *  « 

**  Never  self-seeking,  keen  for  others'  rise 
And  gain,  before  his  own,  he  loved  to  see 
Young  wrestlers  of  his  training  win  the  prize, 

Nor  asked  what  his  part  of  the  prize  should  be." 

400 


WHO  WILL  BE  EDITOR? 

"  May  21th. 

'*  .  .  .  And  so  we  laid  him  to  rest.  We  loved  him, 
better  than  others  whom  we  had  buried,  but  I  saw  no 
tears,  and  I  shed  none.  .  .  .  Home.  Emily  had 
d.  at  the  Y.*s — anything  rather  than  loneliness.  Glad 
to  sleep.     '  He  sleeps  well.'  '* 

"  May  2Sth. 

"  Heard  from  Leigh,  who  has  been  asked  to  write 
a  memoir  of  M.  L.  for  the  Graphic.  He  says  the  John 
Bull  names  Harry  Lemon  as  the  new  Editor  !  *' 

S.  B.  TO  Percival  Leigh. 

"  6  Kent  Terrace, 

"  Regent's  Park, 

"  2Qth  May,  1870. 

'*  My  dear  Leigh, 

'*  Your  considerateness  in  such  a  matter  is  exactly, 
as  they  say  in  Japan,  '  behaviour  that  was  to  be 
expected.'  But  I  can  see  no  possible  objection  to  your 
writing  the  memoir,  if  it  seems  good  to  you.  I  could, 
of  course,  do  nothing  for  the  Graphic  because  it  is  in 
antagonism  to  my  old  friends,*  but  for  the  sake  of  the 
departed,  I  should  be  glad  to  see  a  good  memoir  of  him 
there,  and  elsewhere.  I  have  undertaken  one  for  the 
Illustrated,  but  it  will  be  very  difficult,  as  to  the  early 
part,  for  I  know  but  little  of  his  youthful  life,  and  I 
shaU  pass  over  this  rapidly,  and  confine  myself  to  what 
I  really  know. 

''  I  don't  think  the  John  Bull  has  made  a  right  guess,  f 
Theirs  is  amusing  to  those  who  know  the  person 
indicated.  I  have  also  been  told  of  another,  Mr. 
Gilbert,  the  dramatist,  but  am  also  '  unconvinced '  as 
to  him.     /  dare  say  we  shall  hear  more  on  Tuesday. 

*  The  proprietors  of  the  Illustrated  London  News 
t  As  to  who  was  to  be  the  new  editor. 

401 

27— (2297) 


( 


SHIRLEY   BROOKS 

"  Sad  things  have  happened  since  I  sat  down  last 
Sunday  for  my  quiet  correspondence,  etc.  It  seems 
Hke  a  dream. 

*'  Do  call  at  Mr.  Ewing's,  and  see  the  bust.  He  is 
specially  prepared  to  welcome  yoUj  and  I  think  you  will 
like  his  work,  and  him.  8  George  St.,  Hanover  Square, 
(nearly  opposite  the  church),  and  his  name  on  the  door 
— also  look  at  his  other  busts,  and  make  him  tell  you 
who  they  are. 

''  Ever  yours, 

"  May  31s/!. 

''  Went  to  Whitefriars— saw  W.  B.  and  F.  M.  E. 
and  they  offered  me 

the  Editorship  of  '  Punch.'     I  accepted  it* 
Business  arrangements  deferred  till  another  meeting, 
but  this  talk  held  now  that  announcement  might  be 
made  at  dinner.  .  .  .  then  we  went  to  Purfleet,  Tenniel 
joining  us  by  train.  .  .  .     This  was  the  party  : — 

'^  Leigh.  C.  Keene.  TomAgnew.  Burnand.  Sketchley. 

Fred.  W.  H.  B. 

'^  Tenniel.     S.  B.     Wm.  Agnew.     Horace  May  hew. 

After  d.,  W.  B.  made  the  necessary  little  speech,  which 
he  did  in  good  taste.  The  announcement  was  most 
kindly  received  by  all,  and  Leigh,  as  the  oldest,  rose 
and  expressed  the  great  satisfaction  felt.  My  health. 
I  spoke  shortly,  not  well,  and  begged  their  co-operation 
in  the  old  spirit.  Perhaps  when  we  were  all  there — I 
mean  all  together  at  the  old  place,  I  might  say  more. 
Whether  Elijah^s  mantle  might  have  fallen  on  Elisha, 
or  not,  he  would  seek  to  be  true  to  them  and  the  work. 
We  all  came  up  together  in  a  saloon  carriage.  ...  So 
home,  found  Emily  and  Lillie,  who  had  been  to  the 

*  These  words  are  written  in  red  ink. 

402 


APPOINTED  EDITOR  OF   "PUNCH" 

French  play.  Told  them  that  the  Ed.  of  P.  had  the 
honour  to  salute  them,  and  had  L.*s  congratulations, 
and  when  she  had  gone,  Emily's  kiss.  I  hope  the 
change  is  for  the  good  of  those  I  love,  and  believing  this, 
I  am  deeply  thankful,  but  I  have  lost  a  dear  friend. 
We  are  in  God's  hand." 

S.  B.  TO  Miss  Matthews. 

"  1st  June,  1870. 

*'  My  dear  Miss  Matthews, 

''  .  .  .  Yesterday  I  accepted  the  Editorship  of 
Punch.  It  will  be  a  tie,  and  give  me  trouble,  but  I  seem 
to  have  been  generally  expected  to  take  the  situation, 
and  it  is  not  good  to  disappoint  General  Expectations, 
as  he  is  a  stern  officer.  Wish  me  good  fortune — but 
I  know  you  do. 

*'  I  was  offered  a  seat  on  a  four-horse  coach  for  the 
Derby,  alongside  M.  Gustave  Dor6.  But  I  am  here. 
Who  says  I  have  no  self-denial  ?  Besides,  I  have  seen 
a  Derby  or  two,  and  don't  want  to  see  any  more. 

*'  Ever  yours  faithfully, 

**  Shirley  Brooks. 
"  Miss  Matthews." 

The  death  of  Mark  Lemon  came  as  a  violent  shock  to 
Shirley  on  the  top  of  his  own  severe  illness,  and,  proud 
as  he  was  to  find  himself  in  the  editorial  chair  of  the 
journal  he  loved  so  well,  the  honour  was  but  poor 
compensation  to  him  for  the  loss  of  his  old  and  much- 
loved  chief.  At  first  he  almost  shrank  from  the  great 
responsibility  of  the  office,  **  but,"  writes  Mr.  Silver 
to  me,  *'  it  is  certain  that  he  bravely  did  his  best,  in 
spite  of  failing  health  and  spirits,  to  follow  worthily 
the  course  pursued  by  the  first  Editor." 

403 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

''  We  feel/'  wrote  Shirley  himself,  ''  that  the  best 
homage  we  can  pay  to  him  who  is  gone  before,  the  one 
tribute  which,  had  he  foreseen  this  early  summons  to 
his  rest,  he  would  have  desired  or  permitted,  is  to 
declare  our  united  resolve  that,  to  the  best  of  our 
ability,  our  future  work  for  this  Journal  shall  be  done 
in  the  spirit  long  and  lovingly  taught  us  by  the  loved 
and  revered  friend  who  has  passed  to  the  reward  of 
a  noble  life/'  And,  short  though  Shirley's  tenure  of 
his  great  position  was  to  be,  who  shall  say  that  he  did 
not  during  those  few  years  loyally  and  nobly  act  up 
to  the  principles  which  he  had  so  clearly  enunciated — 
principles  tersely  expressed  by  Thackeray,  '*  May 
Punch  laugh  honestly,  hit  no  foul  blow,  and  tell  the 
truth  when  at  his  very  broadest  grin — never  forgetting 
that  if  Fun  is  good,  Truth  is  still  better,  and  Love  best 
of  all !  " 

Fortunately  for  the  paper,  he  had  long  been  Mark 
Lemon's  right-hand  man.  He  had  been  the  power 
behind  the  throne.  He  was  steeped  in  its  traditions. 
Punch  was,  for  him,  the  first  paper  in  the  world.  He 
had  gone  through  the  mill  himself.  He  had  done  every 
kind  of  work  on  its  literary  side.  He  knew  where  to  go 
to  get  the  best  in  every  department. 

But  much  and  varied  as  the  work  was  which  he  had 
done  for  Punch,  it  was,  I  think,  his  personality,  his 
influence,  his  whole-hearted  devotion  to  the  paper's 
interests,  his  infectious  enthusiasm,  his  sudden  accesses 
of  seriousness  in  the  midst  of  laughter,  his  fertility  of 
resource,  that  rendered  him  most  fitted  for  his  high 
position.     Here  is  what  Sir  Francis  Burnand,  when 

404 


^^  PRIMUS   INTER   PARES  ^* 

himself  Editor  of  Punch,  wrote  of  his  former  chief 
thirty  years  later  in  the  Pall  Mall  Magazine  : — 

'*  Shirley  Brooks,  our  editor  after  Mark,  was  hand- 
some, sparkling-eyed,  brilHant  in  conversation,  quick- 
tempered yet  easy-going,  and  the  cheeriest  of  cheery 
boon  companions.  Perhaps  had  he  been  less  cheery  he 
might  have  lasted  longer.  He  had  a  facile  knack  of 
versifying,  and  could  write  a  stinging  epigram,  a  genial 
paragraph,  or  a  Hght  and  airy  article,  according  to  his 
humour  at  the  moment,  or  the  special  requirements 
of  the  time  and  circumstances.  He  might  have  done 
well  as  a  novelist  or  dramatist,  had  he  not  been  gifted 
with  a  fatal  facility  for  journalism.  Long  before  he 
assumed  the  reins  he  had  been  our  Cartoon  Suggester- 
in-Chief,  and  had  made  a  decided  hit  with  his  '  Essence 
of  Parhament,'  for  which  his  early  apprenticeship  in 
the  gallery  of  the  House  had  especially  qualified  him. 
Tom  Taylor  couldn't  touch  him  in  this  line,  though  he 
subsequently  attempted  it.  Shirley  Brooks  was  a 
warm-hearted  friend  and  a  bitter  enemy,  but  his 
enmity  was  not  of  long  duration.*' 

We  may  beheve  that  it  was  no  easy  task  which 
Shirley  had  undertaken.  It  needed  a  light  hand  to 
drive,  or  rather  I  should  say  handle,  such  a  team  as  he 
found  under  his  guidance.  Keene,  Tenniel,  Leigh, 
Mayhew,  Sketchley,  Tom  Taylor,  and  last  but  not 
least,  Burnand,  were  one  and  all  men  who  had  their 
own  wills,  their  own  opinions,  their  own  strong  idiosyn- 
crasies. They  were  no  mere  spiritless  subordinates 
whose  opinions  could  be  disregarded.  They  were  in  no 
sense  the  puppets  of  their  chief.  He  was  not  a  musician 
playing  tunes  upon  an  instrument,  every  note  of  which 
was  obedient  to  his  touch.     They  were  men  who  had 

405 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

proved  themselves.  They  were  equals.  He  might  be 
nominally  dictator,  nominally  primus  inter  pares.  The 
final  responsibility  might,  rest  with  him.  But,  on  all 
important  matters  he  was  but  chief  of  a  cabinet,  whose 
united  opinion  must  be  allowed  to  over-ride  his  own. 
And  it  is  admitted  on  all  hands  that  Shirley,  the  Editor, 
was  no  different  from  Shirley,  Lemon's  right-hand 
man.  *'  Do  you  feel  bigger  ?  "  said  Mr.  Frith.  '*  No,  I 
don't,'*  said  Shirley.  Increased  work  and  responsibility 
of  course  there  was,  but  assumption  of  superiority 
there  was  not. 

Indeed,  it  is  eloquent  of  the  man's  unspoiled  kindness 
and  good-nature  to  find  him,  even  at  such  a  crisis,  not 
too  busy  to  copy  out  a  paragraph  in  a  newspaper  lest 
a  struggling  young  friend  should  have  failed  to  see  it. 

S.  B.  TO  Mrs.  F.  Romer  (Mrs.  Jopling  Rowe). 
''  Dear  Mrs.  Frank, 

'*  There  is  a  kind  word  for  you  in  to-day's 
AihencBum.  I  copied  it  this  morning,  but  forgot  to  post 
the  letter.  Probably  Frank  may  have  seen  and  bought 
the  paper,  but  I  mention  it." 

*'  Always  yours  faithfully, 

''  S.  Brooks. 
"  Mrs.  F.  Romer." 

A  glance  through  the  diary  of  this  year  shows  it  fuller 
than  ever  of  allusions  to  people  of  importance  in  their 
day  : — 

Mrs.  Rousby  (the  actress) :  [''  She  is  so  pretty — 
and  pale  "  ] ;  George  Meredith  :  [''  who  abused  me 
for  not  doing  less  journalism  and  more  fiction.  Easy 
to  talk  but  not  so  easy  to  feed  young  ravens  "] ; 
Tinsley,  the  pubUsher  :  ['*  sorry  for  my  illness,  and 

406 


PEOPLE  OF  IMPORTANCE 

offering  any  of  a  string  of  books.  It  is  really  very 
civil.  I  never  did  much  for  him.  He  was  as  good  as 
his  word  and  sent  some  twenty  volumes,  chiefly  novels, 
acceptable  in  one's  state  '*]  ;  Charles  Keene  :  [''  a 
gentleman  is  C.  K."] ;  Mrs.  Albert  Smith  (Mary 
Keeley) :  [''  what  a  dainty,  bright,  saucy,  yet  kindly 
little  thing  I  remember  her.  She  played  in  the 
'  Creole  '  and  '  Wigwam  '  for  me  "] ;  George  Hodder  : 
[*'  I  don't  know  when  I  have  had  such  a  good  laugh  as 
at  his  platitudes  (in  the  Memoirs).  However,  it  is  very 
ungrateful,  for  he  writes  gushingly  of  me,  owns  to  a 
kindness  I  had  forgotten  and  prints,  as  another,  a  letter 
I  have  equally  forgotten,  but  which  was  only  a  means 
of  saving  his  feelings  in  regard  to  sundry  verses  which 
would  not  do  for  Once  a  Week  "]  ;  Ledger  :  ['*  very 
unhappy  because  I  suggest  giving  up  the  Era  "*]  ;  Lord 
Tenterden  :  ["  a  gentlemanly  old  man  for  whom  I  had 
a  liking "] ;  Sir  Charles  Russell  (afterwards  Lord 
Russell  of  Killowen)  :  ["  who  sends  me  an  idea  for 
a  sketch,  but  as  it  would  make  young  ladies  stand  on 
their  heads,  on  the  ice,  I  take  it  the  value  is  not  large  "]  ; 
Magee,  Bishop  of  Peterborough :  ["  a  small,  dark, 
keen-eyed  man,  of  whom  I  reserve  my  ideas.  Very 
pleasant,  of  course,  like  all  bishops "] ;  Mrs.  Tom 
Wood  :  [''  who  insists  on  my  using  the  female  name 
*  Gladys  '  in  some  novel.  She  meant  it  for  her  last  born, 
but  this  came  up  boy  "] ;  Charles  Reade  :  ["At  his 
play,  *  Free  Labour/  there  were  but  three  people  in 
the  stalls  and  they  went  away  after  the  first  act  "]  ; 
J.  W.  Nicholson  :  [*'  wrote  to  him  with  my  photograph, 
'  We  have  heard  the  chimes  at  midnight  and  the  clocks 
a  trifle  later,'  as  I  told  him  "]  ;  Newman  Hall :  [''  whom 
I  talked  to  and  hked.     He  has  been  citing  '  Lothair ' 

*  As  a  matter  of  fact  he  continued  his  contributions  until  his 
death. 

407 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

in  his  ministrations  '']  ;  the  Burnands  :  [*'  all  very 
pleasant,  and  the  children  are  very  nice — but  it  is  sad 
to  see  them  with  mourning  signs.*  He  and  I  always 
talk  seriously  on  the  Catholic  Faith,  never  for  mere 
argument ''] ;  ''  Pater  "  Evans  :  ["  another  dear  old 
friend  is  lost  to  me  in  this  world,  but  he  has  his 
reward  "]  ;  Lord  Clarendon  :  [*'  a  fine  old  Whig,  fond 
of  cigars  "]  ;  Vizetelly  :  [''  said  in  the  papers  to  be 
(Jrowned  at  Margate.  He  is  not,  and  is  thought  to 
have  sent  the  par.  to  the  P.  M.  Gazette^  to  get  himself 
talked  about  *'] ;  Leslie  Stephen  :  [*'  I  seconded  him 
for  the  ^  Garrick ' ''] ;  Sterndale  Bennett :  [''  always  very 
cordial  *']  ;  Ferdinand  de  Lesseps  :  [*'  Fuller  offered 
to  present  me  to  him,  but  I  did  not  care  about  it,  for 
which  I  suppose  I  ought  to  be  ashamed,  but  my 
hero-worship  is  limited,  and  not  in  the  engineering  line. 
I  have  known  many  engineers  "  ]  ;  Sir  Henry  Bulwer 
(next  year  created  Lord  Bailing  and  Bulwer) ;  Bellew  : 
[''his  dinners  always  good,  but  one  mixes  too  many 
things  ''] ;  Lord  O'Hagan  :  [''  I  like  him  "] ;  Theophilus 
Burnand  :  [''he  is  a  most  pleasant  person  and  gives 
a  perfect  dinner.  Moreover  his  house  is  full  of  fine 
pictures.  I  was  much  pleased  to  hear  from  our  host 
of  his  purchase  of  dear  old  John  Phillip's  picture 
(hanging  in  the  drawing-room),  The  Priest  telling  tales 
over  the  brazier,  to  laughing  women.  P.  asked  ;f600, 
but  B.  insisted  on  giving  him  £800.  ...  B.  has  been 
(since)  offered  £3,500  for  it "] ;  Frederick  Clay : 
["  asked  me  to  write  a  Peace  song  for  Santley,  but  the 
next  news  made  it  rather  needless  we  thought,  as  peace 
might  come  before  we  could  arrange  the  howl  for  it ''] '; 
Tom  Taylor  :  ["  wrote  to  him  for  a  good  poem,  and  he 

*  For  their  mother,  who  had  died  on  April  10th,  at  the  age  of 
twenty-eight,  and  to  whom  Shirley  makes  tenderest  allusion  in  his 
diary  of  that  date. 

408 


A  WORTHY  SUCCESSOR  TO  LEMON 

sent  me  one  better  than  usual  '*]  ;  Arcedekne  :  ["  last 
time  to  see  my  old  friend  *  Archy/  as  we  all  called  him. 
He  died  31st  May,  1871  "]  ;  Lord  Lytton  :  [''  reading 
his  '  King  Arthur  '  (new  edition  sent  me  by  publisher). 
Much  cleverness  .  .  .  but  no  poetry  '*] ;  Robert 
Carruthers  of  the  Inverness  Courier  :  [*'  a  brave  old 
man  "]  ;  Mrs.  Romer  (now  Mrs.  Jophng  Rowe)  :  [**  her 
baby  to  be  christened  and  I  have  promised  to  be 
godfather.  For  I  hke  this  struggling,  clever  little 
artist  '*]  ;  Mrs.  Lynn  Linton  :  [''  sends  me  something 
for  Punch.  I  should  be  very  glad  to  use  it.  Sent  it 
to  be  set  up  "]  ;  Mrs.  Mark  Lemon  :  [''  who  wishes 
me  to  write  an  inscription  for  M.  L.*s  tomb  '']  ;  Tom 
Hood  :  [''  who  points  out  that  an  initial  letter  used  in 
Punch  is  copied  from  George  Cruikshank  ''] ;  Garibaldi  : 
["I  hope  they  will  not  catch  (and  shoot)  the  brave  old 
stupid  "] ;  Lady  Beaumont*  :  ["  died  to-day  (Dec.  9th, 
1870).  To  think  of  her  whom  we  saw  under  that  porch, 
all  hfe  and  smiles,  being  borne  away  from  it  to  the 
pretty  church  in  which  we  stood  with  her.*'] 

From  the  diary  : — 
"  June  2nd. 

'*  A  nice  note  from  Kiki — any  other  editor  than 
myself  would  have  been  to  him  '  an  unnatural  offence.' 
My  words  on  M.  L.  made  Mrs.  du  M.  weep.  Comforted 
to  think  M.  L.  knew  he  loved  him  well." 

'*  June  3rd.  [He  has  pasted  in  the  following  from  the  Athenceum.] 
"  We  are  authorised  to  announce  that  Punch  has 
been  fortunate  enough  to  find  its  second  editor  in 
Mr.  Shirley  Brooks,  who,  although  he  enters  on  office 
at  a  rather  mature  period  of  life,  is  in  the  fulness  of 
intellectual  vigour,  and  in  every  respect  worthy  to 
occupy  the  place  so  long  held  by  Mr.  Mark  Lemon. 

*  Wife  of  Sir  G.  H.  Beaumont,  Bart. 

409 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

'' '  Mature  '  be  hanged.  Nevertheless,  c'est  vrai.  .  .  . 
Other  papers  have  the  new  appointment.  I  receive 
many  letters,  speaking  of  my  entire  fitness  for  the  work. 
Of  this  it  woidd  be  idiotic  in  me,  writing  in  my  own 
diary,  to  express  a  doubt,  for  I  feel  none — it  is  my  sort 
of  work.'* 
"  June  4th. 

"  '  Ouida,'  Miss  de  la  Ramee,  called  on  E.  Made 
rather  a  favourable  impression,  but  finished  by  saying, 
in  reference  to  the  demand  for  silence  when  a  person 
is  singing,  that  she  heard  '  hush,  hush  '  the  other  night, 
and  immediately  remarked  that  she  had  heard  such 
cries  in  a  minor  theatre,  but  not  in  drawing-rooms,  and 
that  as  she  talked  better  than  others,  she  ought  to  be 
listened  to.  There  is  something  in  the  notion,  only 
it  doesn't  come  well  from  the  good  talker.  It  is 
Johnsonian,  which  a  woman  should  not  be.*' 
•'  June  lOth. 

**  Charles  Dickens  has  died  suddenly.  He  was  seized 
with  a  fit  of  paralysis  on  Wednesday,  at  dinner,  and 
remained  unconscious  until  the  end,  a  little  after  6 
yesterday  afternoon.  Maclise,  Lemon,  Dickens,  in  two 
months.  ...  He  called,  during  my  illness.  I  was 
about  to  write  to  him,  as  to  his  offer  to  use  his  influence 
with  Gladstone  for  a  pension  for  Mrs.  Lemon,  and  I 
waited  only  to  be  told  that  some  such  provision  was 
needful  and  would  be  welcome.  Wrote  a  few  fines 
about  him  as  leader  for  H.  N.  ,  ,  .'* 

"  June  \2th. 

''  Dear  old  Pater  *  still  lingers,  is  perfectly  conscious 
of  the  approach  of  the  end,  and  when  they  can  make 
out  the  words  he  is  using  to  himself,  they  are  heard  to 
be  what  a  dying  man  should  say,  if  he  can.     Hearing 

♦  Frederick  Mullett  Evans  died  on  June  25th.  He  was  one  of 
the  original  partners  in  the  firm  of  Bradbury  &  Evans. 

410 


SALARY  AS  EDITOR 

that  I  was  there,  he  '  sent  his  Love  to  me/  by  Amy. 
I  sent  him  mine,  by  Fred,  and  both  messages  were 
from  the  heart/' 

"  June  17th. 

*'  Wrote  Preface  to  Vol.  58,  Punch  (no,  next  day) — 
rather  a  good  preface — E.  thought  a  very  good  one." 

'*  June  ISth. 

"  We  propose  to  offer  you  a  thousand  guineas  a  year, 
as  Editor,  and  six  guineas  a  week  for  contributions.*'* 
So  spoke  W.  H.  B.  in  the  small  room  next  Fred's,  and  I, 
as  matter  of  form,  took  time  to  consider.  .  .  . 

"  .  .  .  .  Letter  from  Polly  at  last,  and  a  very  nice 
one.  '  I  write  to  thank  you  in  all  our  names  for  the 
papers  and  paragraphs  you  have  sent,  and  for  the 
memoirs  written  by  you,  especially  in  Punch  and  the 
Illustrated  News.  I  know  you  don't  want  formal 
thanks,  but  will  be  better  pleased  to  hear  how  reading 
your  kind  notices  gratified  and  consoled  us.  Mother 
sends  her  love  to  Mrs.  Brooks  and  yourself,  and  thanks 
you  both  most  heartily  for  your  excessive  kindness. 
I  express  myself  badly,  but  you  will  understand  my 
meaning.'  " 

**  June  20th. 

"  At  breakfast  E.  learned  that  Tilley  had  called 
because  Bellett  (tutor  of  boys  here  on  holidays),  had 
told  him  that  one  of  the  International  boys  had  been 
drowned  !  I  felt  that  we  had  no  cause  for  fear,  but 
I  telegraphed  to  Core,  and  then  found  in  the  Times  a 
par.  I  had  overlooked.  It  was  true — one  of  the  Webers 
went  to  bathe  on  Saturday,  and  was  drowned.  Then 
came  the  telegram  (answer  in  1 J  hours),  '  Too  true.' 
Later  came  a  letter  from  Rego,  with  the  details.  He 
had  arrived  while  the  search  for  the  body  was  being 

*  The  italicised  words  are  written  in  red  ink. 

411 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

made,  and  had  stripped  and  gone  in.  Afterwards  a 
number  of  boys  were  preparing  to  go  in  together,  and 
make  a  Hne,  when  the  poor  fellow  was  discovered. 
*  It  was  awful,'  writes  R.,  '  to  see  it  dragged  over  the 
side,  the  head  on  one  side,  and  the  arms  all  limp  and 
draggled.  Mr.  Core,  after  giving  me  some  brandy, 
sent  me  and  Frames  off  to  telegraph,  and  we  did  the 
two  miles  in  15  minutes — so  I  was  greatly  tired.  It 
has  cast  a  great  gloom  over  the  school,  and  scarcely 
a  word  was  heard  at  breakfast.  Is  it  not  in 
*'  Coningsby  "  that  a  similar  thing  is  described  ?  '  He 
remembers  what  he  reads." 

"  June  22nd. 

'*  Letter  from  W.  H.  B.  acknowledging  mine  of  the 
preceding  day,  in  which  I  had  put  the  editorial  terms  in 
writing,  and  adding  that  if  I  hit  on  a  good  '  serial ' 
for  Punch,  it  was  to  be  the  subject  of  a  separate 
arrangement.  The  bargain  is  therefore  clenched  ;  and 
may  it  prove  a  good  one,  for  the  sake  of  those  for  whom 
only  I  have  much  care  !  '' 

"  June  2&h. 

'*  We  went  to  Hardman's.*  .  .  .  While  we  were 
there  came  Mr.  Cooke,  one  of  the  Prince  of  Wales's 
tailors — sent  in  gilt-edged  card  !  He  came  to  see  H. 
about  taking  the  Hall,f  and  the  result  was  its  being  let 
to  him  for  12  weeks  at  £25  a  week.  Not  bad.  He 
decided  on  taking  it,  at  the  gate  (from  the  gate,  I  mean). 
I  said  he  said  '  don't  show  me  any  more  patterns.* 
Prince  sent  for  him  the  other  day,  and  when  he  expected 
some  great  order,  H.R.H.  complained  that  his  trowsers 
made  by  some  other  tailor  at  Cowes,  did  not  fit,  and 
Cooke  was  to  alter  them.     (A  piece  of  History.)" 

♦  (Sir)  William  Hardman,  Q.C.,  afterwards  Chairman  of  Surrey 
Sessions. 

f  The  Hardmans'  country  house. 

412 


"  JE  PARLE  FRANQAIS  COMME  UN  HUITRE '' 

About  this  time  he  had  invited  du  Maurier  to  dine 
and  meet  Gustave  Dore. 

S.  B.  TO  George  du  Maurier. 

"  Kent  Terrace, 

"  Sunday. 

"  (Yah  !) 

''  This  is  all  your  maUce,  wrath,  spite,  hate,  venom 
and  uncharity,  and  you  knows  it.  You  think,  mark  you, 
think,  that  I  can't  talk  French,  so  you  stay  away  that 
Dore  may  think  I  am  stupid  and  make  a  picture  of  me 
in  the  Inferno.  But  I  laugh  your  base  wiles  to  scorn, 
Sir,  for  in  the  first  place,  Je  parte  Frangais  parfaitement, 
be  hanged,  comme  un  huitre,  and  in  the  next  place  I 
have  secured  '  Ouida,*  also  Willert  Beale,*  who  will  be 
able  to  say  to  Gustave  that  though  their  friend  was 
born  before  France  was  invented,  he  appreciates  the 
noble  nation,  and  loves  its  wines.  As  for  your  brother, 
you  know  we  should  have  been  delighted  to  see  him, 
so  you're  not  going  to  hide  yourself  behind  that  valiant 
Chasseur,  like — like — yes,  Telamon  behind  the  shield 
of  Ajax  (vide  Homer). 

*  *  *  * 

"  Receive  the  assurance  of  my  profound  forgiveness, 
and  give  my  kindest  regards  to  Mrs.  du  Maurier. 
I  dined  at  Mr.  Leith's  on  Friday,  and  a  young  lady 
spoke  of  you,  but  will  do  so  no  more. 

'*  Ever  yours, 

"  S.  B." 

In  July  a  httle  daughter  was  born  to  the  Frank 
Romers,  and  Mrs.  Romer  wrote  Shirley  a  letter,  hinting 
at,  but  hesitating  to  express  in  so  many  words,  their 

*  Thomas  Willert  Beale,  miscellaneous  writer  and  operatic 
manager, 

413 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

desire  that  he  should  stand  sponsor.     Quick  to  read 
between  the  hnes  he  repHed  : — 

S.  B.  TO  Mrs.  F.  Romer  (Mrs.  Jopling  Rowe). 

"  My  dear  Mrs.  Frank, 

'*  I  have  been  at  Brighton  since  Saturday,  and  have 
run  up  to-day  for  the  dinner,  and  hope  to  get  back  again 
to-night  till  Saturday.  I  am  too  late  to  answer  your 
question  to  any  purpose.  I  believe,  however,  that 
Mr.  Frith  has  returned  to  Ramsgate  (1 1  Royal  Crescent) 
but  I  am  not  quite  sure.  As  regards  the  more  interest- 
ing matter,  I  know  that  it  is  a  difficult  thing  to  get 
hold  of  the  sort  of  sponsor  (male)  that  one  desires, 
and  I  am  glad  to  see  that  the  Church  commission  is 
prepared  to  recommend  the  virtual  abolition  of  the 
office,  by  letting  the  papa  be  god-papa  also,  which  is 
the  more  reasonable,  as  he  would  look  somewhat  blue 
if  the  other  godfather  walked  into  the  house  and 
insisted  on  beginning  the  religious  education  of  the 
nouveau  Chretien.  I  don't  know  how  to  advise  you 
in  the  matter,  but  I  can  only  say  that  if  you  have 
thought  over  everyone  else,  and  nobody  pleases  you, 
you  let  me  know.  I  think  it  is  possible  that  I  know 
a  rather  stout  party,  of  tolerably  decent  character 
(considering  his  literary  avocations)  who  might  be  got 
at  by  me,  as  I  believe  I  stand  better  with  him  than  most 
people.  But  I  hope  you  will  find  a  much  better  one, 
and  I  only  mention  this  as  you  may  perhaps  have 
meant  I  should  recommend  somebody.  I  shall  be  up 
again  on  Saturday  for  my  usual  hard  day's  work. 
I  write  in  haste  and  with  kind  regards  to  your  husband 
am, 

**  Very  faithfully  yours, 

**  Shirley  Brooks." 

The  baby  was  christened  *'  Hilda  Louise  Shirley." 

414 


"PUNCH"  AND  THE  ''SATURDAY  REVIEW 

"  July  2nd. 

''  By  the  way,  saw  an  impertinent  reference  to  P. 
in  Saturday  Review^  so  indited  an  impertinent  paragraph 
in  reply.  I  think  we  must  fight  when  we  get  hold  of 
a  worthy  adversary.  And  it  will  do  nobody  any  harm 
to  know  that  the  S.R.  has  an  unfriendly  eye  upon  us.'** 

"  July  m. 

"  We  went  to  Greenwich  in  the  *  Cupid '  boat,  and 
d.  at  the  *  Ship,'  in  the  *  Bellot '  room. 

John  H.  A(gnew)  T.  A(gnew) 

W.  H.  B(radbury).  Fred  Evans. 

S.  B.  W.  Agnew. 

Usual  dinner — there  is  no  invention  or  improvement 
at  these  hotels.  (N.B. — I  have  wanted  to  know  when 
folks  began  to  eat  white-bait  here.  The  recently 
published  Malmesbury  '  Letters  '  show  that  Mrs.  Harris 
dined  at  Greenwich,  on  '  the  smallest  fish  she  had  ever 
seen,  called  white-bait,'  in  1763.)  W.  B.  proposed  my 
health,  as  editor.  I  answered  shortly,  and  asked  a  glass 
to  the  memory  of  dear  old  Mark.  This  dinner  was 
in  honour  of  my  inauguration.  We  came  up  by  rail  to 
Charing  X.  Mem. — Took  E.  in  my  cab  to  Bond  St., 
and  gave  her  £2  to  buy  herself  some  little  trifle  in 
memory  of  the  inauguration  aforesaid — she  does  not 
care  for  jewellery,  so  I  wished  her  to  please  herself, 
poor  thing.  Nobody  can  be  less  extravagant  on 
herself,  and  I  often  wish  she  were  more  so." 

"  July  9th. 

''  The  Dickens  sale  to-day — things  fetched  outrageous 
prices.     Agnews  gave  1,000  guineas  for  Frith's  '  Dolly 

*  The  Saturday  Review  had  advised  James  Grant  to  retire  from 
the  editorship  of  the  Morning  Advertizer  because  it  had  assailed 
the  Pope,  citing  as  an  example  Doyle's  retirement  from  Punch 
for  a  like  reason.  Shirley's  reply,  entitled  "  Just  Worth  Mentioning,'* 
was,  it  must  be  confessed,  not  in  his  happiest  manner. 

415 


SHIRLEY   BROOKS 

Varden.'     The    stuffed    raven,    120    guineas — to    be 
photographed,  I  suppose.  .  .  .* 

*'  Funny  thing  at  the  ^  Bedford* — I  looked  in  at  the 
little  window,  and  saw  Helen  writing  in  a  book — her 
diary.  She  had  marked  one  day,  she  showed  me,  with 
very  black  marks.  Of  course,  she  was  mysterious 
about  it,  and  she  having  denied  that  it  concerned  a 
^  he,'  I  said :  '  Then  you  had  your  pocket  picked.' 
Her  eyes  became  saucers.  '  How  strange  you  should 
say  that !  '  It  was  so,  in  an  omnibus,  and  she  lost 
a  good  deal  of  money,  and  had  told  nobody.  My  fluke 
was  prompted  by  a  recollection  of  what  happened  to 
poor  dear  Emily,  in  New  Inn  days — she  was  robbed 
on  her  way  to  see  me.'' 
''July  nth. 

"  E.  called  on  Mrs.  Dickens,  first  time  since  the  death. 
Describes  her  as  looking  well,  being  calm,  and  speaking 
of  matters  with  a  certain  becoming  dignity.  Is 
resolved  not  to  allow  Forster,  or  any  other  biographer, 
to  allege  that  she  did  not  make  D.  a  happy  husband, 
having  letters  after  the  birth  of  her  ninth  child,  in 
which  D.  writes  like  a  lover.  Her  eldest  daughter 
visited  her  and  declared  that  the  separation  between 
them  had  resulted  solely  from  her,  Mary's,  own  self- 
will.  Miss  H.  has  also  visited  her — I  will  not  write 
about  this,  but  the  affair  is  to  the  honour  of  Mrs.  D.'s 
heart.  I  imagine  she  has  not  been  left  much,  but  young 
C.  D.  says  she  shall  receive  the  same  as  before." 
^'  July  I2th, 

''  It  seems  to  be  thought  that  the  question.  Peace  or 
War,t   may   be   settled   to-day.     Much   exercised   in 

♦  Shirley's  biographer  may  perhaps  intrude  for  a  moment  to  say 
that  Landor's  bust  which  fetched  £25  at  the  Dickens'  sale,  was 
bought  by  him  thirty  years  later  for  four  shiUings  and  sixpence. 
It  arrived  at  his  house  in  a  wheel-barrow. 

j  Between  France  and  Prussia. 

416 


TENNIEUS  LOYALTY 

inventing  a  cut  for  Punch,  But  got  some  ideas,  and 
at  the  d.  (in  ^  Shakespeare/  '  Bedford/  present  only 
Tenniel,  Leigh,  Fred  and  self),  we  actually  made  three 
cuts  to  do,  in  case  there  should  be  on  Thursday,  War, 
Peace,  or  Nothing  Final/' 

"  July  Uth. 

''  The  Times  declaring  peace,  as  indeed  we  had  a 
right  to  expect  it,  had  not  war  been  resolved  on  and 
the  Spanish  business  been  a  mere  excuse,  I  went  to 
Tenniel,  and  settled  that  we  should  have  our  Peace 
Cut,  Napoleon  as  Bombastes.  Which  was  drawn. 
But  before  it  could  be  cut  came  war  news.  ..." 

"  July  15th. 

'*  War  is  declared  by  France  against  Prussia.  Fred 
Evans  (with  Lloyd)  came  to  tell  me,  6  p.m.  to-day. 
He  is  gone  on  to  Tenniel,  who,  if  he  can,  must  knock  out 
another  cut.  .  .  . 

*'  After  d.  went  over  to  Tenniel  (pain  still  in  my  side, 
and  so  on  several  days),  and  after  easily  showing  him 
that  his  done  cut  would  not  do,  got  him  to  undertake 
a  second,  the  '  Duel  to  the  Death,'*  one  of  our  three 
of  Tuesday.  He  is  a  most  loyal  fellow,  and  threw 
over  a  pleasant  garden-party  to-morrow  that  he  might 
work.  He  likes  these  things,  therefore  be  it  noted 
to  his  praise.  To  me  work  is  preferable  to  garden  and 
most  other  parties,  except  a  small  dinner  with  nice 
women." 


"  July  16th. 

"  War  news  confirmed.  If  these  two  armies,  with 
all  their  arms  of  precision,  and  some  new  engines  of 

*  Britannia  vainly  endeavouring  to  keep  the  peace,  between 
Louis  Napoleon  and  the  King  of  Prussia,  who  stand  ready  for  a  duel. 
France  {loq.),  "  Pray  stand  back.  Madam.  You  mean  well ;  but 
this  is  an  old  family  quarrel,  and  we  must  fight  it  out." 

All 

28— (2297) 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

which  we  hear,  meet  in  a  pitched  battle,  the  slaughter 
will  be  horrible.  I  know  not  whether  I  regard  this 
with  sufficient  awe,  feeling  that  mere  death  is  not  an 
evil,  if  we  consider,  at  all,  what  He  is  Who  sends  tor  us. 
But  for  the  agony,  and  the  thirst  of  the  wounded  men 
I  cannot  express  my  compassion." 

"  July  21th. 

''  The  last  cut,  issued  to-day,  proved  a  grand  success, 
the  printers  had  to  go  to  press  several  times.  It  was 
against  Napoleon.  But  we  are  just,  and  the  next  is 
to  apportion  blame  about  equally.''* 

That  his  sympathies  were  with  Prussia  is  proved  by 
the  following  letter  : — 

S.  B.  TO  Miss  Matthews. 

"  6  Kent  Terrace, 

"  Regent's  Park, 

"  N.W. 
"  \Sth  July,  1870. 

'*  My  dear  Miss  Matthews, 

''  To-day  is  cloudy  enough,  but  it  is  very  close. 
I  apologize  for  writing  to  you  without  my  coat — 
but  what  is  good  manners  in  these  days  ?  I  heard 
last  night  that  the  Prince  of  Wales  allowed  a  man  to 
write  out  some  rubbishing  song  for  him,  the  man 
being  coatless,  and  though  the  Princess  came  in,  the 
feUow  did  not  resume  his  costume.  I  shall  turn 
Republican,  especially  in  presence  of  this  abominable 
war,  got  up  by  an  Emperor  for  the  most  selfish  reason. 
Don't  you  hope  the  Prussians  will  '  give  it  him  hot  ?  ' 
.  .  .  **  Ever  yours  faithfully, 

**  Shirley  Brooks. 
''  Miss  Matthews." 

*  That  entitled  *'  Six  of  one  and  half-a-dozen  of  the  other." 
August  6th, 

418 


ADMIRATION  OF  FRENCH  PLUCK 

But  that  he  admired  the  French  people  as  distin- 
guished from  their  Emperor  is  as  obvious  from  the 
following  : — 

S.  B.  TO  Percival  Leigh. 

"  '  Punch  '  Office, 

"  85  Fleet  Street, 
"  August  24th,  1870. 

"  My  dear  Professor, 

''  I  have  3  notes  from  you,  and  I  am  ashamed. 
It  is  not,  you  know,  my  way  to  neglect  your  letters,  but 
somehow  I  thought  I  would  let  you  alone  till  you 
should  have  settled  down. 

*'  As  regards  P.B.  make  your  jottings  when  you  feel 
inclined.  I  will  let  you  know  in  good  time  when  to 
put  the  steam  on.  We  want  a  very  light  number  of  the 
P.B.  for  this  year,  dialogue,  fun,  d —  nonsense — but 
you  understand.  But  give  yourself  a  rest  in  the  fresh 
air,  as  far  as  P.B.  is  concerned.  I  can't  spare  you  from 
P.P.,  but  short  things,  with  a  point,  can  be  done 
staccato. 

''  We  had  a  noble  dinner  at  the  C.  Palace,  but  the 
party  was  small.  A  four-horse  omnibus,  so  we  were 
out  of  the  mob,  which  was  some  28,000.  We  did  not 
spoil  our  revel  with  business,  but  I  go  to  meet  Tenniel 
to-night  at  Kiki's,  when  we  shall  settle  something. 
It  would  be  Punch-like  to  recognize  the  pluck  of  the 
French,  apart  from  the  general  question  and  L.  N.,  and 
I  think  I  see  a  way  to  do  this,  without  departing  from 
our  line. 

*'  My  folks  have  had  enough  of  Beaumaris,  so  go 
over  the  way,  literally ;  that  is  to  Penmanmaur. 
There  I  hope  to  be  able  to  join  them  for  a  day  or  two, 
once  or  twice,  but  it  is  a  good  way. 

*'  You  know  as  much  about  war  news  as  I  do,  so  I 

419 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

leave  the  red  smear  out  of  this — only,  I  don't  see  proof 
that  Bazaine  has  cut  his  way  out  of  the  iron  net. 

''  Kindest  regards  to  Mrs.  Frederick,  to  your  brother, 
and  to  those  of  the  young  ladies  who  do  the  undersigned 
the  honour  to  be  friends  of 

'*  Your  friend, 

"  S.  B. 
"  P.  Leigh,  Esq." 

"  August  9th.     (Staying  at  Pluckley  with  Lady  Thompson.)  * 

**  Found  an  epitaph  in  the  churchyard  : — 

"  *  Death,  with  his  overwhelming  tide, 
Swept  my  loved  partner  from  my  side, 
And  you  of  yours  deprived  may  be 
As  unexpectedly  as  me.' 

Wrote  Emily  and  sent  her  this,  as  she  likes  '  me ' 
in  speech  better  than  '  I.*  '* 

"  August  10th. 

*'  Lady  T.  with  me  to  train,  9.57.  Said  I  would 
return  if  I  could,  but  feared  I  should  not  be  able. 
Cannon  St.,  12.15.  Fleet  St.  wild  with  newspaper 
boys  and  purchasers.  The  Parisian  excitement  very 
fierce.     I  must  stay  and  write  latest  news.'* 

"  August  nth. 

''  War  news,  about  now,  getting  more  and  more 
important,  but  I  have  had  to  write  it  so  often  that  I  am 
tired — my  articles  will  show  how  closely  I  followed  it. 
This  was  a  week  of  blood.'* 

"  August  3\st. 

'*  Much  trouble  over  cut,  but  we  got  one,  the  finish 
of  the  duel,  which  proved  astoundingly  lucky — for  we 
had  meant  that  the  Emperor  was  compelled  though 

♦  Wife  of  Sir  Henry  Thompson,  Bart. 

420 


"THE  DUEL  DECIDED" 

wounded,  to  go  on  fighting,  and  in  the  interval  he  went 
down,  and  an  alteration  in  the  title  made  all  right.*'' 
"  Sept.  2nd. 

**  Sent  one  A.  S.,  of  whom  I  know  nothing,  but  that 
she  is  a  young  artist,  deserted  by  her  husband,  10s., 
which,  by  the  way,  she  has  not  acknowledged.  It 
was  a  bit  of  tender-heartedness — perhaps  she  is  ugly." 
"  Sept.  Sih. 

''  Dined  at  Ellis  WiUiams's.  P —  sang  song  from 
the  '  Gipsy's  Warning.'  I  have  not  heard  it  for  many 
a  year — I  gave  it,  in  my  green  days,  to  a  young  lady 
on  whom  I  was  great  spoons,  and  whose  name  I  now 
recall  only  with  an  effort.  She  is  well  married — not  to 
me.  I  think  I  used  to  write  about  her  in  a  diary  as 
Melanopia.  '  Vere  ish  dat  dairy  [sic]  now  ?  '  In  fact, 
where  are  many  diaries  of  mine,  kept  rather  fully  ?  " 

S.  B.  TO  Miss  Matthews. 
"  Henley  Bridge, 

''  Tuesday,  ISth  Sept.,  70. 

"  My  dear  Miss  Matthews, 

'*  .  .  .  I  can't  get  away  much  at  this  crisis.     If 

peace  broke  out,  I  should  have  a  hoUday.     I  am  quite 

tired  of  describing  the  fall  of  the  Empire.     I  have  done 

it  in  5  leading  articles — two  for  the  Home  News,  one 

of  them  the  AustraUan  (I  think  as  shouldn't  say  it) 

not  bad. 

*  *  *  ♦ 

"  The  cut  of  me  was  a  treachery  f — it  was  Reginald's 
joke,  and  I  gave  it  Charles  Keene,  but  he  audaciously 

*  "  The  Duel  Decided."  Macmahon  was  defeated  at  Sedan  on 
September  1st,  and  the  Emperor  surrendered.  Evidently  Shirley's 
diary  was  "  written  up  "  a  few  days  later. 

•  t  Vide  "  In  formd  Pauperis,"  Punch,  Sept.  3rd,  p.  102.     Keene 's 
likeness  of  Shirley  is  certainly  only  passable. 

421 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

contends  that  it  was  a  very  good  likeness.  The 
'  Moke '  Hnes  were  mine — written  merely  to  fill  up  a 
hole,  out  of  which  I  had  taken  something  I  did  not 
care  about — and  they  have  had  a  great  popularity. 
I  think  of  having  them  printed  on  note-paper,  as  a 
standing  '  answer  to  correspondents.'*  These  crea- 
tures trouble  me  much — after  a  good  read  at  a  batch 
of  their  rubbish,  I  feel  demoralized. 

"  Ever  yours  affectionately, 

'*  Shirley  Brooks.'' 

"  Oct,  8th. 

"A.  I.  came  to  tell  me  that  one  of  our  pirates. 
Punch  and  Judy,  was  collapsing,  and  to  know  whether 
Whitefriars  would  buy  the  title.  I  said  I  thought  not, 
as  there  was  nothing  to  prevent  the  vendors  from 
bringing  out  '  Judy  and  Punch '  next  week,  and 
moreover  that  we  always  let  such  things  rot  to  death 
their  own  way." 

"  Oct.  9th. 

''  E,  told  me  I  was  an  old  man.  Which  it  is  true, 
in  a  way."f 

''Oct.  nth. 

**  I  suggested  the  cut,  *  A  Quarter  of  a  Million ' — 
our  contribution  to  the  S.  &  W.  fund.  The  Continent 
abuses  us,  let  us  take  credit  for  what  we  really  do."  J 

*  "  He  who  thinks  he  makes  a  joke 
Usually 's  an  awful  moke." 
t  S.  B.  was  fifty-five. 

I  England  had  subscribed  ;f250,000  to  the  Sick  and  Wounded 
Fund.  How  her  generosity  was  received  in  some  quarters  was 
strikingly  illustrated  in  a  letter  written  by  Sir  William  Russell  to 
the  Times,  in  which  he  told  of  a  German  inspecting  this  **  cut,"  and 
saying  that  he  did  not  see  anything  generous  in  it  at  all.  It  was 
merely  Britannia's  conscience-money  for  the  enormous  percentage 

422 


THE  PRINCESS  ALL   FOR-LORNE 

"  Oct.  ISth. 

'*  Just  now  we  are  all  talking  about  the  intended 
marriage  of  Princess  Louise  to  the  Marquis  of  Lome. 
It  is  liked — people  are  tired  of  German  matches  and 
pensions,  but  the  matches  have  all  turned  out  well, 
and  our  P.  R.  may  be  Empress  of  Germany.'' 

•'  Oct.  16th. 

*'  Wrote  for  Punch.  It  is  well  I  do  this,  for  nobody 
helps  me  much  with  short  paragraphs  and  gibes. 
I  wish  I  could  find  somebody  to  be  to  S.  B.  what  S.  B. 
was  to  M.  L." 

"  Oct.  nth. 

"  Wrote  Tom  T.  to  do  verses  on  the  Princess's 
marriage,  as  he  admires  her.     He  did  them  well."* 

"  Oct.  23rd. 

*'  A  '  vast '  of  Punch  letters,  and  exactly  150  with 
the  joke  about  the  Princess  being  '  All  For-Lorne.'  "f 

"  Nov.  6th. 

''  Waiting  dinner,  comes  a  telegram  from  Reginald 
that  he  will  be  home  in  an  hour.  *  Toby  all  right ' 
(this  well  thought  of  by  the  boy),  and  we  surmised  all 

she  had  made  in  selling  arms  to  both  combatants  !  On  reading  this 
Shirley  wrote  with  natural  indignation  :  ''It  is  about  time  to  stop 
this  said  money,  and  think  of  our  own  poor,  for  we  are  promised  a 
hard  winter." 

*  The  verses  were  entitled  '*  With  a  Loving  Cup  to  Louise." 
Tenniel's  accompanying  cartoon  ("  A  Real  German  Defeat ") 
represented  the  Marquis  of  Lome  carrying  off  his  Royal  bride  to 
the  chagrin  of  a  crowd  of  German  princelings.  Being  Anti-German 
the  cut  proved  very  popular,  for,  since  Sedan,  Enghsh  sympathy 
had  veered  round  in  favour  of  France.  The  cartoon  had  to  be  drawn 
in  a  hurry,  and  no  photograph  of  the  Marquis  could  be  procured  in 
time,  "  so,"  wrote  Shirley,  "  Tenniel  had  to  manage." 

■f  I  well  remember  my  father  making  this  joke  and  thinking  he  was 
its  sole  inventor. — G.  S.  L. 

423 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

sorts  of  things,  his  mother  that  he  had  been  hurt  at 
football,  I  that  there  was  '  something  disagreeable  at 
the  College/  I  was  right — in  about  an  hour  came  a 
telegram  from  Dr.  Schmitz,  to  say  that  R.  had  been 
expelled  for  rebellion.  We  had  really  scarcely  read  it 
when  R.  arrived,  pale  and  tired — he  had  spent  his 
money  on  the  telegram,  and  never  thought  of  taking 
a  cab.  He  soon  explained  the  Rebellion.  It  was 
a  mere  '  barring-out,'  caused  by  the  expulsion  of  a  boy 
for  presenting  or  rather  writing  a  memorial.  I  was 
sure  that  R.  had  done  nothing  very  wrong,  and  thought 
what  was  done  deserved  punishment.  Sudden  expul- 
sion, on  a  Sunday,  was  arbitrary  and  unjust.  Several 
others  were  sent  off,  some  with  long  journeys.  Unless 
all  this  is  set  right,  I  shall,  as  matter  of  duty,  expose 
the  affair,  and  work  for  the  Doctor's  removal.  But 
resolved  to  sleep  on  it,  and  hear  the  Doctor  himself. 
Hard  work  to  get  to  sleep." 

"  Nov.  7th, 

''  Took  notes  of  the  whole  history  from  Rego.  The 
lads  laid  in  provision  for  a  siege,  had  patrols,  etc. 
The  war  has  turned  all  their  heads." 

"  Nov.  Sth. 

''  .  .  .  Then  the  Doctor  went  into  the  story.  I 
pointed  out  the  boyish  absurdities,  and  alluded  to 
Rego's  good  character.  Dr.  S.  spoke  of  him  most 
highly,  and  declared  that  he  loved  and  was  proud  of 
him,  and  that  had  he  expressed  any  penitence,  he 
would  not  have  been  sent  home.  I  assured  him  that 
Rego  saw  his  absurdity,  and  was  sorry,  and  the  Doctor 
said  that  if  he  wrote  a  letter  of  apology  he  might  return. 
.  .  .  Nothing  could  be  kindlier  or  more  friendly  than 
the  Doctor  to  me,  and  he  reiterated  expression  of  his 
regard  for  Rego.  I  adverted  to  my  letter  to  Dr.  W.  S., 
saying  that  it  was  written  under  excitement,  and  that 

424 


REGINALD   IN  TROUBLE 

some  words  should  have  been  seen  only  by  the  receiver, 
and  Dr.  L.  S.  said  he  thought  nothing  of  words,  in  the 
circumstances — he  himself  had  been  miserable  and 
sleepless.  So  we  parted  more  pleasantly  than  I  had 
expected.  Saw  Cecil  and  gave  him  Is.  To  town  with 
Torrens,  and  walked  to  Westminster  Station,  and  so  to 
Baker  St.  to  make  E.  glad  at  my  news.  Now  Rego's 
natural  feeUng  is  dislike  to  return  unless  others  are 
pardoned.  I  believe  all  will  be  who  make  submission, 
but  Rego  has  heard  of  new  expulsions.  These  boys 
do  not  think  how  very  needless  it  is  to  add  to  their 
parents*  troubles.  R.  wrote  a  note  of  apology,  and 
I  posted  it  myself,  to  clench  the  nail." 

*•  Nov.  9th. 

"  E.  went  off  in  the  fog  to  Isle  worth,  wishing  to 
smooth  matters  for  R.*s  reception.  She  thinks  I  have 
been  '  stern '  in  the  affair,  but  I  have  not  felt  so,  nor 
has  R.  had  a  hard  word  from  me — we  have  laughed  as 
usual — indeed,  I  may  not  have  said  enough.  He  and 
perhaps  his  mother  will  feel  some  day  that  a  damaging 
thing  was  near,  and  has  been  escaped,  but  it  is  painful 
to  be  misinterpreted  by  those  whom  one  loves  better 
than  all  else.  However,  had  some  little  explanation, 
and  all  is  weU.  E.  saw  Core,  the  Doctor  away.  Core 
says  no  one  else  has  been  pardoned,  yet.  He  expressed 
himself  most  kindly,  and  promised  to  make  things  as 
smooth  as  he  could  for  R.,  but  was  strong  for  his  instant 
return,  and  at  night  R.  had  an  excellent  letter  from  him 
— warning  him  against  being  made  to  think  himself 
a  hero.  Good  tact — this  is  the  opposite  to  R.'s  idea. 
Gave  R.  10s.,  not  so  much  as  a  tip  as  to  make  him  feel 
we  were  on  good  terms.*' 

"Nov.  nth. 

"  Tenniel,  who  sat  tiU  12,  and  advised  an  infusion  of 
new  art  into  Punch — we  wanted  a  man  who  could  draw 

425 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

well,  and  had  a  strong  sense  of  humour.  Where  to  find 
this  double-headed  Phcenix  ? 

*'  Reginald  returned  to  College  to-day.  I  gave  him 
a  note  to  Mr.  Core.  So  endeth  what  might  have  been 
an  unpleasant  business,  but  which,  so  far  as  he  is 
concerned,  is  nothing  but  a  school-boy  *  lark,'  and 
so  to  be  regarded  in  the  future.  .  .  . 

'*  Wrote  '  Macbeth's  Medical  Man  '  for  Ledger's  Era 
Almanac.  I  think  I  always  say  I  won't  do  this  again 
(though  I  don't  know  why,  except  that  it  is  a  bore), 
but  it  gets  done,  and  will  be,  I  suppose,  again." 

"  Nov.  13th. 

''  ^  Pocket-Book.'  The  men  have  not  done  enough, 
and  I  must  do  the  rest.  Wrote  what  made  lOJ  pages, 
a  good  afternoon's  work." 

"  Nov,  I5th. 

*'  Wrote  Tenniel,  as  to  ^  P.B.'  He  was  delighted  with 
my  work — but  I  may  note  how  oddly  the  idea  came 
to  me.  Some  months  ago,  for  a  bit  of  mischief,  I  sent 
this  to  Hatton's  paper — E.  suggested  it — I  think  we 
meant  to  have  some  fun  with  Frith  : — 

*'  '  We  hear  that  a  new  comedy,  to  be  entitled  (in 
rather  Robertsonian  fashion)  "  R.A."  is  to  be  produced 
at  a  West-End  Theatre  in  London,  and  that  "  Academy 
doings,"  illustrated  in  the  adventures  of  a  young  artist, 
will  be  part  of  the  entertainment.' 
But  nothing  came  of  it — we  did  not  see  the  Friths  much 
at  the  time.  Yesterday  I  could  not  think  of  a  subject 
for  the  '  P.B.,'  and  while  walking  about  pondering, 
I  strolled  into  Rego's  room,  and  accidentally  took  up 
the  old  newspaper  which  was  on  his  table.  My  eye 
caught  the  paragraph — and  the  trick  was  done.  In 
a  couple  of  hours  I  had  finished  what  I  am  afraid 
wiU  be  the  best  thing  in  the  '  P.B.'     Tenniel  roared 

426 


''DYING  SWAN,  PERHAPS" 

at  it,  and  wished  he  had  had  it  sooner,  for  a  second 
illustration.*  '* 

"  Nov,  23rd. 

''At  9.45  called  on  Dr.  Garrod,t  11  Harley  Street. 
Thank  him  for  his  kindness  when  Parry  sent  him  up, 
without  letting  us  know,  and  etiquette  prevented  his 
seeing  me.  I  seem  to  like  him.  I  consulted  him  on 
my  general  health,  but  especially  as  to  epidermical 
trouble,  and  he  enquired  very  closely  into  my  history 
and  case.  Stethoscoped  me,  and  said  there  was  '  a  loud 
murmur,  a  musical  murmur.'  The  only  music  I  ever 
made — dying  swan,  perhaps — but  I  hope  to  see  my 
cygnets  swim  yet,  D.V.'' 

"Nov.  24th. 

"  E.  at  lunch  told  me  (or  next  day)  '  not  to  be 
offended.*  '  Of  course  not.'  She  had  been  privately 
to  Dr.  Garrod,  to  know  the  real  state  of  my  case.  He 
had  assured  her  that  I  had,  with  proper  care,  many 
years  before  me.  '  Offended,'  dear  old  child  !  We 
have  had  too  much  struggle,  side  by  side,  not  to  be 
shocked  when  there  is  even  a  hint  of  evil  to  the 
other." 

"  Nov.  2&h. 

"  I  inserted  the  first  of  a  series  of  Imitation  Letters 
from  Horace  Walpole,  which  I  ought  to  be  able  to  do 
pretty  well,  and  which  are  a  new  feature  for  Punch." 

"  Nov.  29th. 

"  Went  across  to  the  school  of  Mount  Zion  Chapel, 
HiU  St.,  to  give  my  first  votes  under  the  Education  Act. 
I  have  7,  so  gave  one  to  W.  H.  Dixon,  out  of  corrupt 

♦  "  R.A.  :    A  Sensation  Drama  of  Real  Life."  "  Punch  Pocket- 
Book  "  for  1871,  p.  143,  et  seq. 
t  [Sir]  Alfred  Garrod,  M.D. 

427 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

friendship,  and  6  to  Miss  Garrett,  as  a  duty.  .  .  .  Both 

elected. 

Miss  Garrett  headed  poll         . .     47,858 
Huxley       ..  ..  .,     13,494 

Dixon         . .  . .  .  .       9,031 

and   4    others,    Thorold,    Angus,    Hutchins   (Papist), 

Watson."* 

Miss  Matthews  had  made  him  a  pair  of  slippers. 

S.  B.  TO  Miss  Matthews. 

"  6  Kent  Terrace, 

"  Regent's  Park, 

"  N.W. 
"  7th  Nov.,  1870. 

**  '  How  beautiful  are  *'  my  "  feet  with  shoes '  is  the 
text  from  Solomon  which  you  will  set  me  quoting,  my 
dear  Miss  Matthews,  for  many  a  morning  and  evening 
to  come.     Slippers,  indeed  !  they  are  much  handsomer 
than  those  in  which  the  casual-minded  party  in  the 
*  Pilgrim's  Progress  '  likes  to  see  Religion  walk  abroad. 
I  might  hunt  the  slipper  all  over  London,  and  not  run 
down  anything  so  charming.     I  feel  like  a  he-Cinderella. 
I  wish  I  could  write  you  as  pretty  a  poem  of  thanks  as 
Cowper  did  to  the  lady  who  worked  him  a  patch-quilt : — 
*'  *  And  thanks  to  one  above  them  all 
The  gentle  fair  of  Purtenhall, 
Who  put  the  whole  together,' 

But  take  my  thanks  in  plain  prose,  and  believe  that 
I  am  a  great  deal  too  much  pleased  with  your  kind 
present  to  say  pretty  things  about  it. 

*  For  the  first  School  Board  of  London  under  Forster's  Education 
Act.  W.  Hepworth  Dixon,  later  editor  of  the  Athenceum,  whom 
Shirley  had  treated  so  roughly  over  the  Shakespeare  Memorial,  was 
now  on  very  friendly  terms,  and  remained  so  till  the  end  of 
Shirley's  hfe.  **  Miss  Garrett  "  is,  of  course,  the  well-known  Dr. 
Elizabeth  Garrett  Anderson. 

428 


''GOODY  GRANVILLE" 

"  To-day's  Times  ?  But  if,  as  I  hope,  you  are  a 
constant  reader  of  another  journal,  not  unknown  at 
No.  LV,  ParHament  Street,*  you  would  not  have 
(here's  bad  English)  supposed  the  Germans  were  going 
to  give  up  any  of  their  advantages,  f  Goody  Granville 
wrote  pretty  pretty,  but  '  Holy  Willy's  Prayer '  will 
be  said  in  Notre  Dame  for  all  that.  As  to  putting  off 
the  wedding — you  had  better  suggest  that  to  the  bride. 
Because  (though  she  is  full  of  merits)  I  should  say  she 
might  think  that  a  bird  in  the  hand  is  better  than  two 
which  are  very  likely  not  in  the  bush.  (If  a  lady  put 
me  off,  merely  because  a  few  hundred  thousands  of  men 
were  stabbing  and  shooting  and  slashing  one  another, 
she  would  have  to  go  and  look  in  the  bush,  anyhow,  for 
another  bird.)  Besides,  her  learned  husband  would 
teU  her  that  Hymen  was  nephew  to  Mars,  so  that  it  is 
all  a  family  business.  May  they  be  happy — were  I 
proposing  the  health  at  breakfast  I  should  hope  that 
he  would  find  in  her,  and  she  in  him,  '  greater  riches 
than  the  treasures  in  Egypt,'  which  is  not  saying  much, 
so  far  as  I  saw.  You  may  give  this  hint  to  your  papa, 
if  you  hke,  as  I  conclude  he  will  have  to  make  a  speech. 

'*  Mr.  HardmanJ  will  probably  be  made  Mayor  of 
Kingston  on  Wednesday — (so  he  will  be  '  mayoried ' 
too,  as  your  friend  Ernest  would  say),  at  least  so  says 
the  Comet.  He  has  been  elected  on  the  Council. 
I  cannot  imagine  a  greater  bore,  but  I  will  console  him 
with  all  the  chaff  I  can  think  of. 

**  Always  yours  faithfully, 

''  Shirley  Brooks." 

*  Messrs.  Grindlay  &  Co.,  the  proprietors  of  Home  News,  which 
Shirley  still  edited. 

t  Paris  was  now  in  a  state  of  siege. 
X  (Sir)  WiUiam  Hardman.  v 

429 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

S.  B.  TO  Miss  Matthews. 

"6  Kent  Terrace, 

"  Regent's  Park, 

"  N.W. 
23rd  Nov.,  1870. 

*'  My  dear  Miss  Matthews, 

'*  You  will,  I  dare  say,  have  received  a  Musical 
World  J  at  least  I  wrote  to  the  publisher  to  send  it.  The 
reason  why  you  receive  it  you  will  discover  by  turning 
to  a  page  on  which  you  will  see  a  wonderful  poem  by 
a  friend  of  yours.  Furthermore,  you  are  respectfully 
requested  to  admire  the  same  as  much  as  you 
conveniently  can,  or  to  say  you  admire. 

*'  Nextly,  in  a  day  or  two  I  hope  that  you  will  receive 
Mr.  Punch's  *  Pocket-Book,*  which  it  has  given  me  a 
deal  of  trouble  to  edit  this  year,  but  I  think  it  is  about 
as  good  as  the  average.  For  a  wonderful  drama  called 
*  R.A.,'  and  a  thing  called  '  The  Skeleton  in  the  Mirror,* 
and  a  lovely  poem  about  a  Brighton  Butterfly,  you  will 
have  no  difficulty  in  finding  an  author.  I  am  now 
much  '  exercised '  over  the  Almanac,  but  we  have, 
I  think,  got  some  good  notions  for  pictures.  I  have 
another  literary  idea,  on  which  I  shall  like  to  have  your 
judgment  when  you  have  seen  a  specimen — '  more 
anon.' 

''  That  was  a  most  unconstitutional  thunderstorm 
last  night.  This  is  November.  There  was  a  new  moon, 
who  heralded  herself  with  all  the  row.  I  didn't  think 
it  ladylike,  but  everything  is  odd  in  these  times. 

"  You  read  the  Times,  I  know.  That  is  a  curious 
leading  article  to-day,  written  at  the  Germans.  See 
also  Russell's  letter.*  They'll  '  invite '  him  to  leave 
Head  Quarters  at  Versailles,  and  forego  the  delightful 

♦  (Sir)  W.  H.  Russell,  the  celebrated  Times  Wax  Correspondent. 

430 


LOIRE   RHYMES  WITH  DESTROYER 

view  of  the  Crown  Prince's — how  shall  I  put  it — 
inferior  garments  (whereof  he  hath  said  so  much,  enough 
to  delight  Poole)  unless  he  *  mends  his  line  and  sins  no 
more.'  Mais,  I  do  not  give  up  a  fixed  idea  very  hastily, 
and  I  don't  believe  that  the  army  of  the  Loire  is  going 
to  do  wonders.  By  the  way,  did  you  ever  know  the 
poetry  of  the  Rev.  Henry  Stebbing* — a  pleasing  parson  ? 
It  was  not  bad.  Two  hues  cling  in  my  mind — have 
clung  for  25  years  because  of  a  rhyme — the  poem  was 
about  Jeanne  d'Arc — 

"  And  along  the  banks  of  Loire 
Rides  no  more  the  armed  des/roy^r.' 

One  can  defend  it,  but  one's  rhymes,  like  one's  good 
name,  should  need  no  defence.  However,  it  has  been 
held  that  tobacco  rhymes  to  Long  Acre. 

"  I  suppose  you  ask  with  some  indignation  why 
I  write  you  a  long  note  about  nothing.  Well,  if  it  is  a 
conundrum,  I  give  it  up,  but  I  suppose  the  solution  is 
because  I  never  see  you,  to  talk  about  nothing. 

'*  The  Xmas  picture  in  the  Illustrated  News]  is  pretty 
— a  little,  blue-eyed,  fair-haired  girl,  with  no  stockings, 
lying  on  a  bank  and  looking  at  a  lady-bird  on  her  hand. 
If  the  engravers  and  colourists  do  it  justice,  it  ought 
to  be  a  success.  By  the  way,  I  was  not  to  mention  the 
subject,  Evans  knows  why,  but  you  are  discretion. 

"  Lastly,  I  am,  as  ever, 

''  Yours  most  faithfully, 

"  Shirley  Brooks." 

"  Dec.  1st. 

''  A  foolish  paragraph  about  me,  and  illness,  in  the 
London  Figaro,  a  slop-pail  journal  of  gossip." 

*  First  editor  of  the  Athenceum. 
t  To  which  he  was  writing  some  verses. 

431 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

"  Dec.  nth. 

"  Work  as  usual,  and  looked  over  the  way  at  my  new 
room — carpet  down — Fred  asking  me  as  to  furniture. 
Cleared  my  papers  from  my  den  at  11,*  and  as  I  sup- 
posed I  was  taking  leave  of  that  house,  I  '  dedicated  ' 
a  few  thoughts  of  advantages  which  have  come  to  me 
there,  and  I  hope  felt  earnestly  thankful  for  all.  The 
old  house  has  a  history  for  me/* 

"  Dec.  24th. 

"  Into  town,  and  took  possession  of  my  new  room. 
No.  10  Bouverie  St.  B.  &  E.  are  anxious  to  make  me 
comfortable,  and  I  think  the  room  will  be  so.  Capital 
fire.  W.  H.  B.  installed  me,  and  later  my  health  was 
drunk  at  the  usual  gathering  of  the  heads  of  depart- 
ments. Were  I  well,  I  would  have  made  a  little 
ceremony,  but  my  foot  demands  rest.'' 

"  Dec.  Slst. 

''  Bought  a  diary  for  the  new  year.  May  it  contain 
few  such  sad  records  as  this  volume.  D.  in  '  Shakespeare ' 
with  Fred  and  Charles  Dickens  (jun.).  Each  of  them 
had  lost  a  father  this  year,  and  I  one  friend  whom 
I  loved  almost  as  a  father.*' f 

This  he  follows  with  a  list  of  those  *'  gone  ad  majores.'* 
'*  Feb,         Mrs.  Matthews,  Wimpole  St. 

James  Helbling — heard  of,  he  d.  Xmas  Eve, 

'69. 
George  Hogarth,  Dickens's  father-in-law. 
Mrs.  du  Maurier,  senior. 
John  Murray's  son,  Arthur. 
March.     William  Brough. 

Mary  Albert  Smith. 

♦  Clement's  Inn. 
f  Mark  Lemon. 

432 


"GONE   'AD   MAJORES'" 

April.      Mrs.  Burnand. 

Lord  Tenterden. 

Daniel  Maclise. 
May.        Mark  Lemon. 
June.       Charles  Dickens. 

Harry  Weber,  drowned,  boys*  schoolfellow. 

F.  M.  Evans. 

Basil  Piffard  (a  relative  on  his  mother's  side). 
July.        Mrs.  Faed. 

Geo.  Hodder. 
Sept.        Kit  Pemberton.* 

Cowper  Coles,  t 

Charley  Synge. 
Nov.         Adolf  Ferrari. 
Dec.         Lady  Beaumont. 

F.  Emanuel,  boys'  schoolfellow. 

Eleanor  Beaumont. 

C.  Hicks. 

And  N.Y.  Day,  1871,  dear  A.  Munro.'' 

*  Said  to  be  the  original  of  many  of  Ouida's  heroes. 
t  Designer   of  the   Captain,   in  which  ship  he  went  down    off 
Cape  Finisterre. 


433 

2^— (2297) 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

1871 — Mrs.  Lynn  Linton's  Contribution  to  Punch — Letters  to 
Miss  Matthews  and  W.  Hepworth  Dixon — The  Germans  Enter 
Paris — Mrs.  Lemon's  Pension — The  Census — Private  View  of 
the  Royal  Academy — Letters  to  Percival  Leigh — ^The  Tichborne 
Case — A  Large  Evening  Party  at  6  Kent  Terrace — George 
Biddell  Airy — A  Punch  Dinner  at  10  Bouverie  Street — Walter 
Scott  Centenary — Harrogate — Letters  to  Percival  Leigh,  W.  H. 
Bradbury,  du  Maurier,  Mrs.  F.  Romer,  and  Mrs.  Hardman — 
Serious  Illness  of  the  Prince  of  Wales — "  Bomhastes  Furioso.*' 


ANY    are  the  interesting   per- 
sonages with  whom  we  find 
ourselves  rubbing  shoulders 
in  the   1871  diary,   as  in 
its  predecessors.   Here  are 
some  of  those  which  are 
casually  mentioned.    More 
will  appear  in  the  longer 
gr    excerpts  : — 

The  Lelands  :  [*'  Leland  the  American  who  writes 
the  capital  German-English  poems  ;  Mrs.  Leland  very 
agreeable  and  almost  pretty — very  strong  American 
accent  "] ;  Sir  George  Scharf ;  E.  M.  Ward,  R.A.  : 
[''  sends  me  a  proof  of  the  engraving  of  his  '  Marie 
Antoinette  Hearing  her  Sentence '  "] ;  George 
Bentley  ;  Sketchley  :  [**  very  amusing  if  he  would  not 
make  noises  when  he  has  no  fun  to  emit  *'] ;   Serjeant 

434 


PEOPLE  OF  IMPORTANCE 

Parry  ;  Ouida  :  [*'  had  thought  of  going  to  Ouida*s  at 
the  Langham,  but  did  not  feel  i'  the  vein  for  vanity  "] ; 
Sir  G.  Beaumont ;  the  Heather-Biggs ;  Monsignor 
Capel  :  [*'  the  '  Catesby  '  of  *  Lothair/  he  is  dehghtful, 
quite  the  Jesuit  type,  and  full  of  information  ;  I  like 
him  *']  ;  Richard  Garnett ;  Solomon  Hart ;  the 
Jessels ;  R.  Lehmann  ;  Rignold ;  Gustave  Dore  : 
[''  sat  with  him  an  hour  and  smoked.  He  is  a  man  of 
artistic  genius,  but  I  did  not  much  admire  him.  I  fancy 
that  he  is  spoiled ''] ;  the  Lankesters ;  Frederick 
Greenwood  ;  Dr.  Doran  ;  Lord  Shaftesbury  :  ["  had 
talk  with  him  and  was  much  pleased  with  the  gentleness 
of  his  manner.  I  am  very  glad  to  have  met  so  good 
a  man  "] ;  John  Holker  ;  Mrs.  and  Miss  Bella  Bateman  : 
[*'  who  has  grown  very  handsome] ''  ;  Pope  :  [''  a  big 
pleasant-faced  barrister,  who  was  so  jolly  through 
dinner  that  no  one  would  have  thought  he  was  in 
torture  with  a  boil  "] ;  G.  H.  Lewes  ;  George  Eliot  : 
[''  they  had  quite  a  little  levee,  affectation  of  not 
talking  about  her  works'*];  J.  Toole:  [*' his  imita- 
tions most  excellent ''] ;  Dan.  O'Connell :  [''  I  like 
Dan  and  his  wife  ''] ;  Clement  Scott  :  [**  writes  to  ask 
me  to  be  on  a  Committee  for  showing  some  courtesy 
to  the  French  actors  *'] ;  the  Jerrolds  ;  Sir  Biddell 
Airy  :  [*'  proposed  my  health,  an  honour  from  him  '*]. 

Almost  the  first  entry  in  the  diary  of  this  year  is  of 
pecuhar  interest  to  me,  as  the  biographer  of  my  dear 
friend,  Mrs.  Lynn  Linton.  Turning  to  the  (I  fear) 
long-forgotten  pages  of  her  biography,  I  find  that  the 
article  to  which  Shirley  refers  appeared  on  Jan.  7th, 
and  was  entitled  *'  On  being  Taken  Up  and  Put  Down 
Again."  It  was  signed  ''A  Dog  who  has  had  his 
Day,'*  and  was  Mrs.  Linton's  first  and  last  appearance 
in  Punch, 

435 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

"  Jan.  2nd. 

"  Wrote  Mrs.  Linton  with  her  article  in  next  Punch. 
She  is  ill,  but  replied  in  ecstasy  that  I  was  a  prince, 
and  she  hoped  to  add  a  laurel  to  my  coronet/' 

"  Jan.  9th. 

''  Heard  to-day  of  two  deaths,  one  of  George  Stacy, 
who  has  been  the  Punch  printer  for  years,  and  who 
soon  followed  M.  L.  A  loyal  and  valuable  man. 
Wrote  to  his  daughter,  who  informed  me  he  died 
yesterday.  And  at  night,  reading  the  Pall  Mall  G., 
learned  that,  on  New  Year's  Day,  dear  Alexander 
Munro  had  been  released  from  his  sufferings.  I  could 
not  hope  to  see  him  again,  after  what  I  saw  on  June 
30th.     As  kind  and  good  a  man  as  I  have  known.'' 

"  Jan.  \Oth. 

*'  Manby  told  us  that  at  the  last  coronation,  he  was 
in  attendance  on  Soult,*  and,  asking  leave  to  go  and 
see  Mrs.  M.,  Soult  gave  him  leave,  adding,  '  You  like 
your  wife  better  than  I  do  mine.'  She  had  been  a 
vivandiere  or  thereabouts,  and  talked  accordingly." 

"Jan.  nth. 

*'  Old  Paul  Bedford  d.  82.  He  belongs  to  other  times. 
I  said  in  the  Era  : — 

**  '  His  name  has  a  significance  for  those  who  have 
ceased  to  be  *^  easily  moved  to  mirth."     Labuntur  anni.' 

**  He,  however,  never  moved  me  to  mirth  at  all ; 
he  was  a  mere  buffoon,  but  in  association  with  Wright,  f 
a  real  artist,  he  gained  a  reputation  for  comicality. 
Last  time  I  saw  him  was,  I  think,  at  Whitefriars  (when 
B.  &  E.  were  printing  his  absurd  book),  and  he  told 
scandals  of  Webster  and  others." 

*  Marshal  Soult  was  ambassador  to  England  in  1838. 
I  Edward  Richard  Wright. 

436 


"  HE   PRAYS  TO  GOD— THAT  IS  MOST  " 

"Jan.  18th, 

"  Walked  to  Bedford.  Punch  d.  W.  B.  away.  Got 
out  a  *  Baptism  of  Fire '  cut,  Paris.  King  of  Prussia 
proclaimed  Emperor  of  Germany — that  is  much,  but 
in  the  Hall  of  Mirrors  at  Versailles,  while  Paris  is  locked 
up  in  his  iron  circle,  and  bombarded  by  his  guns — that 
is  more.     And  he  prays  to  God — that  is  most." 

The  following  letters  show  that,  busy  as  he  was,  the 
Editor  of  Punch  could  still  concern  himself  about 
matters  which  a  smaller  man  might  have  considered 
beneath  his  notice. 

S.  B.  TO  Miss  Matthews. 

"  Jan.  I9th,  71. 

"  My  dear  Miss  Matthews, 

*'  A  tender  mission  has  been  confided  to  me. 
'  Cato*s  a  proper  person  to  entrust  a  love  tale  with  ' — 
but  there  is  also  a  rat's  tale  in  it. 

**  Cecil's  chief  pet,  this  last  term  and  holiday,  has 
been  a  white  Rat  with  Red  Eyes.  It  is  harmless,  if  not 
affable.     Eats  oats,  and  a  little  bread  and  milk. 

**  He  has  left  it  in  my  charge,  and  wishes  me  humbly 
to  offer  it  to  Ethel,  who,  if  she  does  not  pet  it,  will 
cause  it  to  be  treated  kindly.  I  do  not  know  whether 
your  town  arrangements  include  a  menagerie,  but  at 
the  College,  of  course,  the  creature  could  find  a  corner. 
I  know  he  (I  meant  by  '  he,'  Cecil,  but  the  pronoun 
suits  the  rat  also)  will  be  very  much  rejoiced  if  you 
allow  Ethel  to  accept  it,  and  I  write  to  ask  whether 
you  can.  Needless  to  say,  please  say  '  No,'  sans 
phrase,  if  you  think  the  beast  is  likely  to  be  any  sort 
of  bore.     He  never  squeaks,  I  believe. 

"  Mrs.    Brooks   is   just    off    with    them,    one    for 

437 


SHIRLEY   BROOKS 

Manchester,  the  other  for  Isleworth,  and  '  my  house  is 
left  unto  me  desolate/ 

"  Ever  yours  faithfully, 

'*  Shirley  Brooks. 

"  P.S. — If  you  accept,  I  will  leave  him  at  your  door 
on  my  way  to  town  on  Saturday. 
"  Miss  Matthews.'* 

S.  B.  TO  Miss  Matthews. 

"  6  Kent  Terrace, 

"  Regent's  Park, 

"N.W. 
"20th  Jan.,  1871. 
(Saturn  in  Aphelion.) 

"  My  dear  Miss  Matthews, 

**  Thank  you  in  my  own  name  and  my  chyild's 
(as  they  say  on  the  stage)  for  letting  Ethel  adopt  the 
rodent.  I  leave  him,  herewith,  as  I  am  going  to  dine 
at  35  in  your  street. 

''  I  am  quite  ashamed  of  his  house,  but  Cecil  made  it 
himself,  taking  a  Sunday  afternoon  for  the  purpose. 
I  hope  my  neighbours'  devotions  were  not  disturbed, 
but  as  one  is  a  lawyer  and  the  other  a  successful 
tradesman,  there  is  reason  to  hope  for  the  worst. 
''  Confidential. 

*'  My  belief  is  that  the  rat  can  get  out,  through  the 
loose  wires,  for  which  reason  it  is  well  to  keep  the 
'  bit  of  a  desk '  over  them.  But  Cecil  says  that  he 
never  wants  to  come  out.  However,  I  give  the  caution. 
He  used  to  be  in  Cecil's  bedroom  at  night.  If  he  be 
not  similarly  treated  by  Ethel,  it  may  be  well  to  tell 
the  servants  to  keep  the  said  flap  on,  or — 

*'  His  food  is  oats,  of  which  I  send  some,  and  every 
day  some  bread  and  milk  mixed.  He  does  not  drink, 
I  am  told.     I  do. 

438 


CAPITULATION   OF  PARIS 

"  I  daresay  that  if  Ethel  puts  on  the  coax-screw  in 
the  right  quarter — I  fancy  uncle  may  be  amenable 
thereto — she  may  get  him  a  better  abode  if  she  takes 
to  him.  But  this  is  an  impertinent  hint — only,  I  think 
he'll  escape  if  no  such  measure  is  taken.  I  should  have 
seen  to  this  myself,  but  to-day  I  am  not  able  to  get  into 
the  right  quarters,  and  do  not  hke  to  delay  delivering 
over  my  charge. 

''  ril  only  add  that  though  he  is,  as  I  said,  affable, 
he  has  a  playful  way  of  biting  at  a  finger — I  advise 
trying  with  a  pencil  or  paper-knife,  and  you  will  see 
what  I  mean. 

"  Reginald  writes  very  cheerfully  from  Manchester — 
he  says  they  have  ice  there,  but  he  has  a  snug  warm 
home. 

''  Kindest  regards  to  your  papa  and  all, 

''  Ever  yours  faithfully, 

''  Impransus, 
as  Dr.  Johnson  signed,  but  I  believe  I  am  going  to  dine 
exceeding  well." 

"  Jan.  25th.    [Diary.] 

''  Capitulation  of  Paris.'* 
"  Such  were  the  words  that  met  my  eye  as  I  opened 
the  Times  in  the  drawing-room  this  morning.  Jules 
Favre  was  stated  to  be  yesterday  at  Versailles,  nego- 
tiating, but  asking  inadmissible  terms.  Bismarck  was 
also  stated  to  have  obtained  from  the  Empress  Eugenie, 
with  L.  Napoleon's  leave,  assent  to  the  German  de- 
mands. Neither  Standard  nor  Telegraph  had  aught 
of  this  great  news,  though  the  latter  wrote  that  the  end 
was  coming.  I  take  it  that  the  Times' s  good  services 
to  Prussia  have  been  rewarded,  as  in  the  Secret  Treaty 
case,  with  early  information.  This  is  the  most 
important  news  I  have  ever  had  to  note,  and  I  suppose 
will  not  be  paralleled  in  my  time." 

439 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

"  Jan.  ^Qth. 

*'  What  is  noted  below  is  the  most  curious  evidence 
of  the  reaUty  of  the  siege  of  Paris.  The  writer  fixes 
on  this  Saturday,  but  the  same  sort  of  advertisements 
appeared  long  before,  and  after  that  day.  French  folk 
will  keep  them. 

''  The  first  and  second  pages  of  the  Times  presented 
a  curious  spectacle  on  Saturday.  They  contained 
seven  columns  of  advertisements — about  400  separate 
messages,  addressed  by  French  emigrants  to  their 
friends  in  Paris.  Many  of  these  were  inscribed  to 
Mr.  Washburne,  the  United  States  Minister,  who  has 
been  allowed  to  receive  the  Times  during  the  siege, 
and  who  seems  to  have  kindly  undertaken  to  convey 
to  persons  shut  up  in  the  capital  any  information  which 
reaches  him  from  their  families  and  friends  abroad.'* 

S.  B.  TO  William  Hepworth  Dixon. 

"  6  Kent  Terrace, 

"  Regent's  Park, 

"  N.W. 
"5^A  Feb.,  187 L 

*'  My  dear  Hepworth, 

"  Very  many  thanks  for  the  books,  which  will 
comfort  me  for  several  evenings — just  the  reading 
(and  just  the  print)  for  the  hour  of  quiet  and  the 
groggeries,  non  sine  fumo.  When  did  we  begin  to 
correspond  ?  I  am  afraid  to  think.  Angus  Reach's 
burlesque  cropping  up  again  after  so  many  years 
(I  attended  his  rehearsals  with  him)  made  me  feel  that 
Methuselah  was  a  brat. 

"  I  trust  you  voted  for  a  chaplain  for  the  Education 
Board — do  you  think  I  would  have  gone  all  that  way 
(quite  across  our  street)  to  give  a  vote  for  you,  if  I  had 
thought  you  weren't  pious,  like  King  William  ?    I  was 

440 


LONDON   SCHOOL  BOARD 

curious  to  see  what  Lord  L.*  would  do — he  is,  I  beheve, 
out  and  out  Calvinistical — but  he  has  been  saved  the 
necessity  of  proclaiming.  By  the  way,  in  '  Bartholo- 
mew Fair '  is  such  a  good  speech  for  a  Calvinist  (it*s 
in  the  scene  of  '  humour  '),  '  Sir,  he  may  neither  laugh 
nor  hope  in  this  company.'  I  meant  to  put  it  in  my 
imitation  Walpole,  but  it's  a  little  too  near  the  wind — 
if  we  use  a  text,  even  out  of  Job,  we  get  a  volley  of 
excommunications . 

**  A  serious  word.  My  wife  gave  me  the  saddest 
account  of  the  health  of  your  son  when  she  last  visited 
you.  This  is  some  time  back,  and  we  earnestly  hope 
that  all  has  materially  altered  for  the  better.  It  is 
hard  enough  (I  tried  last  year)  to  be  prostrated  when 
life  is  a  good  deal  behind  you,  but  when  it  is  nearly 
all  before  you,  it  is  indeed  distressing.  Mrs.  Brooks 
bids  me  say  to  Mrs.  Dixon  that  we  have  had  illness, 
and  with  that  and  the  weather  she  has  been  almost 
shut  up,  or  would  have  been  over  to  your  house  long 
ago. 

''  With  our  united  and  kindest  regards  to  you  both, 

'*  Ever  yours  sincerely, 

*'  Shirley  Brooks. 

''  Hepworth  Dixon,  Esq.,  L.S.J5.  (is  that  right  ?)  " 

"  Feb.  IsL 

''  P.  D.  We  knocked  out  a  Peace  cut.f  Kiki  very 
silent  and  looks  ill,  is  sad  about  his  eyes,  poor  dear 
feUow."  + 

*  Lord  Lawrence,  first  Chairman  of  the  London  School  Board. 

f  This  was  a  plea  for  peace  for  the  sake  of  the  starving  women 
and  children  in  Paris.  The  Treaty  of  Peace  was  not  signed  till 
May  18th. 

I  And  yet  du  Maurier  heroically  went  on  drawing  to  the  delight 
of  the  world  for  a  quarter-of -a- century  longer. 

441 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

"  Feh.  4th. 

"  Burnand — he  had  a  new  piece  at  the  Adelphi 
to-night — we  and  Fred  had  boxes,  but  it  turned  out 
that  the  managers,  with  their  usual  discourteousness, 
had  let  all,  after  giving  out  cards  to  us.  However, 
Burnand  gave  up  his  own  box  to  us  4.  Managers  are 
beasts,  some  of  'em.  Vestris  never  let  a  given  box. 
Heard  that  poor  Robertson,  the  dramatist,  died 
yesterday.  The  last  years  of  his  life  have  been  easy, 
with  money,  a  young  and  devoted  wife,  and  rich  friends, 
but  I  heard  that  in  other  days  he  suffered  actual 
privation  from  poverty,  and  that  his  first  wife's  death 
was  hastened  by  want.  He  may  be  forgiven  for 
all  bitterness  and  cynicism.*  D.  with  Fred  in 
'Shakespeare.' " 

"  Feb.  eth. 

"  Just  now  am  re-reading  De  Foe's  novels,  'Roxana' 
and  *  Moll  Flanders.'  Call  that  old  humbug  a  moralist  I 
He  delights  in  '  warmth.'  I  wonder  whether  the 
Dissenting  folk  who  recently  put  up  a  monument  to  him 
ever  read  '  Roxana.'  '  But  then  he  preaches  against 
the  crimes  he  depicts  so  carefully.'  To  be  sure,  that 
makes  a  difference.  *  A  prayer  to  save  the  stamp,' 
by  Swift,  was  much  honester." 

"  Feb.  9th. 

"  The  Session  begins  to-day,  and  the  '  Essence  ' 
to-morrow.     This  work  is  a  bore  usually,  but  it  is  a 
feature  in  Punchy  so  a  duty." 

"  Feb.  ISth. 

*'  Curious  coincidence,  of  which  spiritualists  would 
make  something.     Passing  the  jeweller's  on  our  Park 

*  The  successful  author  of  **  Caste  "  told  Mr.  Frith  that  he  had 
often  had  nothing  for  dinner  but  his  pipe  ! 

442 


A  COINCIDENCE 

Terrace,  I  stopped  to  look  at  some  signet  rings.  They 
put  into  my  head  a  ring  Albert  Smith  gave  me,  with  a 
'  Punch  *  on  it.  I  had  not  seen  it  for  ages,  but  I  knew 
E.  had  it.  While  we  were  sitting  in  the  twilight  before 
dinner,  E.  said,  *  I  had  a  fancy,  this  afternoon,  to  turn 
out  old  jewellery  and  things,  and  I  found  the  ring  A.  S. 
gave  you — here  it  is.'  Odder — she  must  have  found 
it  about  the  time  I  was  thinking  of  it,  4  o'clock. 
Palgrave  Simpson  has  an  odd  belief  about  such 
coincidences.'' 

"  Feh.  Uth. 

*'  The  German  triumphant  entry  into  Paris  is  resolved 
on,  as  I  dare  say  it  has  been  from  the  first.  Well, 
Napoleon  entered  Berlin  in  triumph  in  1806 — it  is  a 
Return  Call.  If  it  had  been  omitted,  the  French 
(who  are  already  returning  to  indecent  plays  and 
blasphemy)  would  say  that  the  '  barbarians  '  had  been 
awed  away.  I  wonder  whether  any  fanatic  will  try 
at  assassination.  The  houses  on  the  line  are  to  be 
occupied,  but  a  bold  man  might  '  do  and  die.'  " 


S.  B.  TO  Miss  Matthews. 

**  6  Kent  Terrace, 

*'  Regent's  Park, 

"  N.W. 
''Dies  Cinerum,  1871.     (Feh.  22nd.) 

'*  My  dear  Miss  Matthews, 

"  If  this  were  not  Ash  Wednesday,  I  should  ask 
you  whether  the  enclosed  tickets  for  to-morrow  were 
acceptable.  If  you  do  not  care  about  using  them, 
perhaps  you  can  give  them  away.  Do  not  trouble  to 
return  them. 

''  If  this  were  not  Ash  Wednesday,  when  every  kind 

443 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

of  penance  is  desirable,  I  would  hope  that  your  papa 
is  rapidly  recovering  from  the  results  of  vaccination. 

'*  If  this  were  not  Ash  Wednesday,  when  all  amuse- 
ment should  be  forgotten,  I  should  ask  how  you  like 
the  play  of  *  Revenge,'  recently  writ  by  a  member  of 
your  family.  The  late  Coleridge  has  one  with  the  same 
title,  I  think. 

"  Resolved  that  you,  for  one,  shall  do  penance, 
I  write  this  with  a  steel  pen,  and  I  hope  that  you  have 
not  got  a  magnifying  glass.  That  would  be  evading 
the  penance,  like  the  man  that  boiled  the  peas  he  was 
ordered  to  put  into  his  shoes. 

"  I  went  to  the  Zoological  Gardens  yesterday,  and, 
seeing  the  old  keeper  near  the  Lions,  I  asked  how  they 
had  got  on  through  the  winter.  '  Thank  you,  Sir,' 
he  said,  as  if  he  were  speaking  of  his  family,  '  we  did 
pretty  well,  but  the  bad  weather  was  against  us.' 

*'  The  primitive  Christians  did  not  begin  Lent  until 
the  first  Sunday  therein.  Pope  Felix  III,  487,  stuck 
on  these  four  days,  to  bring  the  fasting  days  up  to  40. 
Gregory  the  Great  introduced  the  sprinkling  of  ashes — 
hence  dies  cinerum.  Believe  this  if  you  like,  anyhow 
believe  me, 

''  Yours  ever  faithfully, 

"  Charles  William  Shirley  Brooks 
"  {Citizen  and  Goldsmith).'* 

*'  Feb.  2%th. 

'*  Read  'A  Perfect  Treasure,'  a  one  vol.  story,  smartly 
written — somewhat  in  imitation  of  Wilkie  Colhns — 
but  the  absurdity  is  that  a  Hindu  swallows  a  diamond, 
and  keeps  it  in  him — where  ? — for  years,  so  that  his 
master  is  always  anxious  to  have  him  with  him,  and 
a  doctor  gets  at  the  stone  after  the  man  has  been 
drowned." 

444 


"ViE  VICTIS" 

"  March  1st. 

"  Much  trouble  over  cut,  as  it  was  a  big  day  and  a 
big  event,  but  we  got  at  a  *  F<^  Victis  f  '  ''* 

"  March  3rd. 

'*  As  I,  to  my  shame,  had  not  visited  the  collection 
of  Old  Masters,  at  Burlington  House,  E.  and  I  took 
hansom  and  went  thither.  I  have  seen  no  such  collec- 
tion, and  I  grieve  that  I  have  neglected  to  go  sooner 
and  often  and  study  a  little,  for  though  I  am  no  artist, 
many  of  the  pictures  are  to  me  above  art,  if  I  may  use 
the  words.  I  mean  that  independently  of  their  won- 
derful merit,  which  for  the  most  part  I  take  on  trust, 
they  impress  me  either  by  sheer  power,  or  by  their 
suggestiveness.     I  did  not  see  half,  I  did  not  well  see 

ten,  but  I  came  away  with  a  brain  full  of  sensations." 
*  *  *  * 

*'  The  German  occupation  was  brief.  I  am  glad 
that  they  went  in,  for  the  Parisians  would  have  sworn, 
and  written,  that  Paris  was  never  taken,  else.  As  it 
is,  they  will  swear  and  write  that  the  Germans  were 
afraid  to  stay.** 

*  On  this  day  thirty  thousand  of  the  victorious  Germans  had 
marched  into  Paris  and  occupied  it  for  forty-eight  hours.  But, 
in  the  moment  of  triumph,  Punch  did  not  hesitate  to  remind  the 
German  Emperor, 

"  How,  sixty-five  years  since,  there  came 
A  mightier  Emperor  than  thou 
Upon  BerHn  to  put  the  shame 

Which  thy  hand  puts  on  Paris  now." 

And  to  warn  him  that  time  might  again  have  its  revenges — 

"  Who  smite  with  sword  with  sword  shall  fall." 
♦  ♦  *  * 

God's  mill  grinds  slow,  but  they  grind  small, 
And  He  that  grinds  gives  all  their  due." 

445 


SHIRLEY   BROOKS 

"  March  4th. 

'*  Bought  a  hat,  which  is  a  thing  to  inscribe,  for  I 
have  been  wearing  one  of  much  seediness,  for  it  was 
that  on  which  Fred  came  down  when  we  rapidly 
descended  from  the  coach,  just  by  Tunbridge  on 
7th  July,  '69." 

"March  Uth. 

*'  All  needful  signatures  to  Mrs.  M.  Lemon's  *  Memo- 
rial *  have  been  got,  so  to-day  I  wrote  to  Mr.  Gladstone 
a  letter  to  go  in  with  it,  in  which  I  stated  that  Dickens 
had  suggested  it,  and  would  have  taken  charge  of  it,  but 
for  his  death.  A  short  letter,  ending  with  the  remark 
that  I  should  have  felt  that  I  had  neglected  a  duty 
to  the  dead  and  to  the  living,  if  I  had  not  made  the 
above  statement.  The  names  of  the  signatories  are 
good  ones,  and  representative.  I  copy  them  : — 
John  Everett  Millais  (R.A.)  Houghton 
Wm.  H.  Smith  (M.P.)  Roundell  Palmer   (Sir) 

Anthony  Trollope  Thos.  Milner  Gibson 

Wm.  Longman  Wilkie  Collins 

John  Murray  Tom  Taylor 

W.  P.  Frith  (R.A.)  John  Tenniel 

Derby  Shirley  Brooks 

S.  Winton  (Wilber force)  A.  Tennyson 

One  bishop,  2  lords,  1  ex-minister,  2  M.P.'s,  3  artists, 
1  poet,  4  authors,  2  publishers — 16."* 

"  March  15th. 

"  Wrote  '  Polite  Conversation,'  modern,  for  Punch — 
a  companion  column  to  some  excerpts  from  Swift. 

n*  ^^  ^^  ^^ 

" '  Bedford.'  Gave  Mrs.  Warner  an  old  print  of 
Dryden,  to  be  put  into  the  *  Dryden,'  where  we  dine.  We 

*  As  a  result,  a  pension  of  £100  from  the  Civil  List  was  granted 
to  Mrs.  Lemon.  In  addition  to  this  a  sum  of  £1,500  was  raised  by 
the  Proprietors  and  the  Staff  of  Punch  and  other  friends. 

446 


PRINCESS  LOUISE 

elicited  a  good  Marriage  (P.  Louise)  cut.*  Kiki  away, 
but  sent  a  most  clever  note  about  the  Ascidians  from 
whom  Darwin  deduces  us.'* 

*'  E.  had  Mrs.  Y.  here,  and  they  went  to  the  Royalty, 
to  see  a  piece,  '  Behind  a  Mask,'  by  a  so-caUed  Bernard 
Dixon,  who  is  Labouchere,*  the  besieged  Resident.'  "  f 

"  March  17th. 

''  Work  as  usual.  Have  I  set  down  that  Punch  has 
been  expelled  by  the  Dover  Christian  Young  Men,  with 
their  Mayor,  Knocker,  at  their  head  ?  One  point 
of  abuse  was  a  cut  which  I  myself  invented  for 
C.  Keene.  The  papers  have  been  so  down  on  the 
idiots  that  little  was  left  for  me  to  say,  but  I  have 
managed  to  say  something."  J 

•'  March  20th. 

''  The  news  from  Paris.     I  hope  that  the  Germans 

*  "  Over  the  Fence,"  representing  the  Princess  being  Hfted  by 
the  present  Duke  of  Argyll  out  of  the  enclosure  which  hedges  Royal 
ladies  from  other  than  Royal  lovers  : — 

"  Then  boldly  leap,  Louise  :    and  lusty  Lome 
Show  how  a  dear  load  may  be  Hghtly  borne, 
Though  weighted  with  a  princely  coronet — 
He  that  would  win  the  rose  must  bear  the  thorn  ! 
Envy's  the  winner's  debt — 
BUthely  this  flow' ret  set 
Beside  thy  eagle  plume  and  wear  it  long." 

t  "  Diary  of  the  Besieged  Resident  in  Paris,"  pubUshed 
anonymously,  by  Mr.  Henry  Labouchere. 

+  Vide  "  Dolts  of  Dover,"  Punch,  March  25th,  p.  126.  The  cause 
of  offence  was  the  illustration  of  an  old  lady  imparting  to  a  sympa- 
thising friend  the  fact  that,  although  she  permitted  Jemima,  the 
cook,  to  go  to  chapel  three  times  a  day,  she  discharged  her  duties 
none  the  better  for  it.  This,  argued  one  of  the  dolts,  constituted 
a  sneer  at  Rehgion  ! 

447 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

will  go  back  and  stamp  out  the  red  disease.*  But  I 
won't  write  much  about  it  here  ;  I  shall  have  to  do 
such  acres  elsewhere. 

9p  n*  *••  ^* 

"  Emperor  Napoleon  landed  at  Dover  !  When  he 
came  last  I  wrote  words  to  a  picture-book  of  Colnaghi's 
describing  the  state  visits  from  16th  April,  1855,  to 
21st.  I  was  at  the  Opera  to  see  them,  on  the  19th,  in 
Arcedekne's  box,  and  saw  L.  N.  and  the  Empress, 
Queen  and  P.  Albert.  '  Where  is  dat  Barty  now  ?  '  ''f 
"  March  22nd. 

''  A  joke  in  Punch  about  the  Eton  boys  having 
another  week's  holiday  because  the  Q[ueen]  has  been 
vaccinated,  in  Times.  It  was  sent  me,  and  the  paper 
is  marked  ^  Winton  House,  Winchester.'  I  had  a  fancy 
this  was  episcopal,  but  that  does  not  seem  to  be  the 
name  of  the  residence — I  now  fancy  I  was  mistaken. 
Anyhow,  the  joke  is  good.  Wrote  two  leaders.  Mar- 
riage of  Princess,  and  on  France,  for  I.L.N.,  and  most  of 
Australian  H.N.     Made  an  '  epigram '  for  Punch'' 

"  March  3\st. 

"  Was  in  my  room  aloft  when  E.  called  up  '  Fve  got 
something  to  show  you.'  Went  down,  and  found  her 
at  her  bedroom  door,  holding — as  in  old  days — a  baby  ! 
A  brown,  black-haired  sort  of  thing,  a  month  old,  the 
offspring  of  our  milkwoman.  How  E.  likes  these 
things.  I  almost,  but  certainly  not  quite,  wish  she  had 
one  of  her  own.  She  has  just  come  in  as  I  am  writing, 
but  I  have  not  read  this  to  her." 

"  April  1st. 

''  At  the  Garrick,  Merewether,  Q.C.,  told  me  I  had 

*  The  insurrection  in  Paris. 

f  Shirley  was  no  lover  of  Louis  Napoleon,  and  quoted  with  gusto 
from  an  otherwise  fooUsh  French  pamphlet  of  the  time,  "  C'etait  un 
Sphinx  qui  n' avail  pas  d'enigme." 

448 


THE  CENSUS  (1871) 

just  been  re-elected  on  the  Committee.  This  was  an 
entire  surprise,  but  he  came  to  me  again,  saying  that 
I  made  him  doubt  my  identity,  but  that  the  name  was 
that  of  the  Right  Honourable  S.  B.  I  had  no  idea  of 
the  matter — wait  and  hear." 

"  Afril  2nd. 

*'  Filled  up  my  Census  paper — the  united  ages  of  the 
house  (as  given)  148 — 4  of  us.  I  stick  a  copy  at  the 
end  of  this  book.  Shall  I  fill  up  another,  I  wonder  ? 
If  my  health  lasts,  I  hope  so  for  the  sake  of  one  who  is 
in  this  return,  and  two  who  are  not.*'* 

The  following  is  the  copy  referred  to  : — 

''The  Census.     1871. 
"  My  Return  (6  Kent  Terrace,  Regent's  Park). 
'^S.  B.  Head,     Married.     M.    55  (Editor   of   Punch, 

Middlesex,  London. 
(Novelist.) 
"E.    B.     Wife.       Married.       F.    39.     Editor's    wife, 

Trinidad,  British  subject. 
'*  Betsy  Alderman.     Servant.     U.M.     F.  30.     Cook. 

Lincolnshire,  Crowland. 
"  Emma  Hawes.     Servant.   U.M.     F.  24.   Housemaid. 
Buckinghamshire,  Woburn  Chequers. 
("  So  we  were  the  4  in  3,251,804.)  " 
''April  nth. 

*'  A  friend  of  Tenniers,  a  scholard  and  a  gent.,  objects 
to  the  *  Polite  Conversation '  in  Punchy  and  to  a 
picture  in  which  a  kiss  is  mentioned.  J.  T.  must 
change  his  friend,  unless  the  former  wants  donkey- 
riding.  Wrote  him  a  *  fudge  '  letter,  to  show,  if  he 
likes.  (N.B. — It  turned  out  that  the  censor  was  not 
a  donkey  at  all,  except  pro  hdc  vice,  being  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Dodgson,  author  of  *  Alice's  Adventures  in  Fairy — no, 

♦  His  wife  and  his  boys. 

449 

30— (3297) 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

Wonderland,'  a  delightful  book.     But  he  is  simple  in 
this  matter.)  '* 

S.  B.  TO  Miss  Matthews. 

"  April  14th,  1871. 

"...  We  went  to  see  '  Joan  of  Arc'  I  could  only 
really  see  it,  for  I  was  deaf  with  a  cold.  It  is  splendidly 
got  up,  but  I  fancy  the  verdict  is  right,  that  T.  Taylor 
has  rather  given  scenes  in  Joan's  life  than  a  play ; 
moreover  Mrs.  Rousby  is  not  robust  enough  for  the 
fighting  peasant  girl.  There  is  an  idiotic  outcry  against 
the  scene  in  which  she  is  burned.  It  is  real  enough 
certainly,  but  I  see  no  objection  to  the  business  in  a 
drama  of  the  kind,  though  I  hate  that  class  of  drama. 
Shall  we  never  have  poetry  in  tragedy  or  wit  in  comedy 
again  ? 

'*  I  dined  in  Curzon  Street  last  night  and  met  among 
others  the  Editor  of  Notes  and  Queries  ;  he  had  some 
good  stories,  so  had  others,  but  they  are  too  long  to 
tell  in  ink.  He  is  an  official  in  the  House  of  Lords. 
The  present  Lord  Abinger  was  making  a  speech,  of 
course  a  foolish  one,  when  the  late  Duke  of  Wellington, 
then  utterly  deaf,  put  up  his  hand  to  his  mouth,  and  as 
he  thought  whispered  to  his  neighbour,  '  Clear  that 
Talent  is  not  Hereditary  !  ' — only  the  whisper  might 
have  been  heard  at  Brighton — and  Abinger  '  shut  up.' 
Charles  Kemble  whispered  to  me  in  the  same  way  once 
at  the  Club,  '  I  don't  want  to  hurt  those  gentlemen's 
feelings,  but  between  you  and  me  I  should  like  to  see 
their  friend  flogged  at  the  cart's  tail.'  " 

**  April  nth. 

'*  After  d.,  E.  and  Rego  went  to  the  opera,  his  first 
visit  to  it.  I  tied  his  cravat,  and  lent  him  my  dress  coat 
as  he  does  not  yet  '  come  tails.'  Opera,  *  Faust,' 
Co  vent  Garden,  a  very  good  work  for  a  first  impression. 

450 


MRS.   LYNN  LINTON 

My  first  opera  was  at  Drury  Lane,  the  '  Gazza  Ladra/* 
with  Grisi,  Lablache,  Tamburini,  and,  I  think,  Ivanoff." 

"  April  2Srd. 

*'  A  sort  of  *  Out,*  i.e.,  we  fulfilled  our  promise  to  go 
and  see  Mrs.  Linton,  at  Loughton.  It  was  a  business, 
owing  to  the  comphcation  of  railways,  otherwise  it  was 
very  pleasant.  Cab  to  Chalk  Farm — rail  to  Victoria 
Park,  by  Highbury,  Barnsbury,  and  my  other  youthful 
localities.  At  the  Park  a  great  scramble  over  bridges, 
and  all  the  Jews  in  the  world  at  the  platform.  Then 
I  think  Shalford,  anyhow  another  change,  but  finally 
made  Loughton,  where  Mrs.  L.  waited  us.  Waggonette 
and  a  long  drive  through  Epping  Forest,  where  I  believe 
I  was  taken  about  45  years  ago,  from  the  '  Old  House.' 
To  Mrs.  L.'s,  she  lodging  in  a  farmhouse,  very  clean. 
Dined  at  6,  there  coming  Mrs.  Allen,  wife  of  the  sec.  to 
the  Trinity  House,  a  charming  person.  Ramble  with 
Cecil  while  I  smoked  :  thought  we  heard  the  nightin- 
gale. Had  to  leave  at  8 — and  then  to  station,  change 
at  Shalford,  and  at  Dalston,  and  at  V.  Park,  but  reached 
Chalk  Farm  at  last,  and  had  cab  home.  But  these  are 
details — the  visit  was  a  very  agreeable  one,  and  she 
was  so  glad  to  see  us  that  we  were  quite  repaid  the 
trouble.  Only  I  shouldn't  live  at  Loughton,  if  I  wanted 
to  come  to  town  much.'' 

"  April  25th. 

''  Had  official  information  that  I  had  once  more  been 
elected  on  the  Committee  of  the  '  Garrick.' " 

*•  April  26th. 

"  Corrected    '  N.   in  P.'    and   went   to   the   Royal 

Academy.     They  give  the  Press   a   day,   before   the 

so-called  private  view.  It  was  not  a  cheerful  scene — 

*  "  La  Gazza  Ladra,"  by  Rossini. 

451 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

cloths  on  floors  and  seats,  workmen  about,  and  some 
8  men  wandering  in  the  dozen  saloons.  Saw  Sala, 
T.  Taylor,  and  Charles  Landseer.  Saw  all  the  pictures 
worth  seeing.  It  is  not  a  good  Exhibition.  A  fine 
landscape  of  Millais*  is  about  the  most  noticeable 
work.*  A  deal  of  foreign  art.  In  the  chief  sculpture 
gallery,  No.  1205,  right-hand  of  a  door  (as  you  go  to  it) 
is  Mark  Lemon,  in  marble,  the  result  of  the  work  done 
at  Crawley  on  24th  May  last.  It  is  a  likeness,  but 
without  any  refinement,  as  I  expected  it  would  be. 
Still,  it  is  well  that  it  should  be  done.*' 

Mrs.  Frank  Romer  had  written  to  tell  him  that  her 
pictures  had  been  accepted  at  the  Royal  Academy. 

S.  B.  TO  Mrs.  F.  Rom£r  (Mrs.  Jopling  Rowe). 

''April,  1871. 

*'  My  dear  Mrs.  Frank, 

"  There  is  no  need  to  tell  you  that  your  note,  just 
received,  has  given  me  the  utmost  pleasure  ;  it  ought 
not  to  have  given  me  any  surprise,  because  I  have 
always  had  firm  conviction  that  you  would  make  your 
way  to  the  front,  but  I  own  to  an  agreeable  surprise 
that  you  have  done  this  so  soon,  as  there  are  so  many 
people  who  rejoice  to  hinder  an  aspirant.  Accept  my 
best  congratulations. 

"  This  day  week  I   trust  to  see  the  pictures  for 
myself,  meantime, 

''  Believe  me, 

*'Very  affectionately  yours, 

"  Shirley  Brooks. 

*'  Mrs.  F.  Romer. 

♦  "  Chill  October." 

452 


ROYAL  ACADEMY 

*'  P.S. — This  note  is  short,  but  there  is  only  the  choice 
between  making  it  so,  or  not  writing  till  to-morrow,  for 
it's  my  Indian,  Austrahan,  and  Punch  day,  and  friends 
are  waiting  for  '  Copy,'  the  hungrier  that  the  printing 
office  (not  Punch's)  was  burned  down  on  Saturday,  so 
all  things  are  at  sixes  and  sevens,  and  whatever  that 
means,  it  means  scramble/' 

Five  days  later  he  writes  again,  the  important  part 
of  the  letter  being  in  the  postscript  :— 

"  My  dear  Mrs.  Frank, 

''  Merely  a  line  to  say  that  I  have  just  come  from 
the  Academy,  and  I  congratulate  you  heartily  on  your 
successes,  and  on  the  good  places  which  two  out  of  the 
three  hold.  You  may  be  proud  of  what  you  have 
done,  yet  I  hope  that  many  future  triumphs  will  efface 
nearly  all  recollections  of  these.  /  am  proud  of  my 
sponsorship,  as  you  are  good  enough  to  call  it. 

"  Ever  yours  faithfully, 

''  Shirley  Brooks. 
'*  P.S. — /  saw  two  or  three  critics'' 

'*  Friday,  April  28th. 

''  Private  view  of  the  Academy.  We,  Emily  and  I, 
got  there  just  before  4.  Having  seen  the  pictures, 
I  could  show  her  the  ones  worth  looking  at.  Of  course, 
we  met  heaps  of  people,  and  after  dinner  we  amused 
ourselves  by  making  a  list.  It  may  have  an  interest 
some  day,  argal,  I  will  transcribe  it. 


"  Academy  Acquaintance, 

Horsley 

Brooks,  my  possible 

Friths 

relative 

T.  Taylor 

Elmore 

HiUs 

Hep.  Dixon 

453 

SHIRLEY  BROOKS 


Fenders 

O'Neil 

Amy  Phillip 

V.  Prinsep 

P.  Simpson 

Planche 

Gye 

Webster  (R.A.) 

Lehmann 

G.  Phillips 

John  Gilbert 

Calderons 

Ben  Webster,  showed  him 

M.  L/s  bust,  which  he 

Hked 
Durham 

Mrs.  E.  Coleman 
Tredcroft 
Mrs.  C.  Matthews 
Rouget 


Mrs.  Arthur  Lewis 

Herbert  (R.A.)  saw 

John  Parry 

Hon.  Mrs.  Norton,  E.  saw 

Marks 

Ward,  E.  M.'s 

Thompson  and  Lady  T. 

Fergusson,  Misses 

W.  Agnew 

T.  and  Mrs.  Agnew 

TroUope 

Alma  Tadema,  saw,  with  his 

fiancee 
Lord  Russell,  saw 
Misses  Skellett 
Sir  W.  Boxall 
Jenny  Lind,  E.  saw 
Saunders  (?) 
Mrs.  Poynter,  saw 


"  April  29th.     (In  red  ink.) 

"  My  birthday.  I  have  much  to  be  thankful  for, 
and  I  trust  that  I  am  so.  Heard  from  Rego,  who  had 
remembered  the  day,  and  sent  me  a  clever  imitation 
of  the  first  Ode  of  Horace.  For  one  who  can  do  this, 
and  who  thinks  to  do  it,  I  need  have  no  great  fear, 
whether  I  live  to  help  him,  or  do  not.     D.G. 

(In  black  ink.  ) 

*'  Talk  with  my  wife.  She  says  we  have  no  troubles, 
except  an  occasional  touch  of  our  own  tempers,  and 
everything  to  be  glad  of,  especially  two  good  boys. 
Agreeing,  so  to  bed.  Have  not  spent  a  pleasanter 
birthday,  in  a  quiet,  worky,  unexcited  way,  for  many 
a  year.    D.G:* 

454 


A  POINTLESS   "PAR" 

S.  B.  TO  Percival  Leigh. 

"  6  Kent  Terrace, 

"  Regent's  Park,  ^ 

"  N.W. 

"  Sunday  {May  1th,  71). 

"  My  dear  Professor, 

"  'Tis  thought  that  you  are  an  Obscurantist,  and 
a  Buddhist,  and  an  Oystergoth,  and  several  other  bad 
things,  but  in  composition  you  are  usually  as  kind  as 
your  ruffianly  Idol,  Billy  Gridiron.  I  thank  heaven 
I  am  as  stupid  as  any  man  who  is  no  stupider  than 
myself,  but  you  have  puzzled  me.  Will  you  explain 
to  me  the  point  of  this  '  par.'  ?  I  inserted  it,  not 
seeing,  but  sure  I  should  see  at  night  :  did  not,  but  was 
sure  I  should  see  in  the  morning  :  do  not,  and  so  I  go 
to  the  fons  et  origo.  I  am  going  out  a  good  deal,  and 
I  shall  certainly  be  asked. 

'*  '  Diplomatic  Revelation. 

'* '  A  telegram  from  Berhn,  announcing  the  reception 
there  of  Count  Schouvaloff  by  Emperor  William,  says  : 

'*  According  to  trustworthy  information,  the  Count 
has  repeatedly  expressed  himself  highly  satisfied  with 
the  result  of  his  mission  to  England  on  the  subject  of 
Central  Asia." 

'* '  So  far,  then,  we  have  no  reason  to  conclude  that 
he  considers  his  mission  to  have  resulted  in  a  dead 
failure.'  * 

''  No,  I  don't  see. 

''  Ever  yours, 

"S.  B. 

*  Apparently  no  point  was  discovered,  for  the  "  par."  did  not 
appear. 

455 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

"  P.S. — Claimant  and  Skipjack,  or  Skipwith,  to  be 
had  up  on  Wednesday.'** 

A  little  later  Shirley  was  visiting  the  Dickenses  at 
Gadshill,  leaving  Leigh  as  his  locum  tenens. 

S.  B.  TO  Percival  Leigh. 

"  Gadshill  Place, 

"  HiGHAM  BY  Rochester, 

"  Kent. 
"  Friday. 

*'  My  dear  Leigh, 

''  I  send  Brightmore  the  '  Essence '  by  this  post. 
It  is  beautifully  written^  and  there  ought  to  be  no 
mistakes,  only,  if  Sambourne's  initials  be  not  M. 
(it  seldom  is)  please  alter  the  beginning  of  the  '  Essence.' 
*'  I  dare  say  B.  will  not  be  able  to  send  proofs  by 
post,  but  if  not,  let  him  send  them  by  the  North  Kent 
Railway  to  Higham,  by  an  early  train,  and  also  let 
proofs  be  sent  to  my  house,  as  I  shall  be  up  on  Sunday 
evening. 

''  Lovely  weather,  and  yesterday  we  saw  the  grand 
siege  operations  described  in  to-day's  paper. 

"  Ever  yours, 

"S.  B. 

"  [P.S.] — Is  damnari,  damnato,  good  Latin  ?  I  can't 
think  out  of  town.  Look  to  the  very  little  bits,  please, 
and  if  you  see  any  very  stupid  ones  write  good  ones 
instead,  especially  at  the  finish  of  the  number.  Nothing 
about  the  Tichborne  case,  please." 

*  The  Tichborne  (Civil)  Case  should  have  begun  on  the  Wednes- 
day, but  there  was  no  jury.  It  began  on  the  Thursday  (May  11th) 
and  ended  on  March  2nd,  1872.  Thereupon  the  claimant  was 
lodged  in  Newgate  to  be  tried  for  perjury. 

456 


THE   "WAGGAWOCK" 

On  the  subject  of  ''  the  Claimant ''  Mrs.  Panton 
writes  to  me  : — 

"  If  you  wanted  to  get  a  rise  out  of  S.  B.  you  had 

merely  to  mention  the  '  Claimant/  Then  his  trial  was 
on,  and  we  spent  the  22nd  at  it ;  we  had  tenants  at 
Poole  and  Swanage  who  swore  the  Claimant  was 
Tichborne,  but  I  heard  him  describe  his  house  near 
Poole  all  wrong,  and  I  remember  delighting  S.  B.  by 
telling  him  this  by  letter.  He  wrote  after  the  verdict 
the  parody  on  the  Jabberwock  in  Punch.  He  used  to 
'  snort/  literally  *  snort/  when  anything  enraged  him, 
and  many  a  *  snort '  did  the  Tichborne  case  cause  him. 
He  was  rabid  against  him.'* 

The  parody  was  entitled  ''  Waggawocky,''  and 
concluded  : — 

"  And  hast  thou  slain  the  Waggawock  ? 
Come  to  my  arms,  thou  Beamish  Boy ! 
O  Coleridge,  J.  !*    Hoorah,  hooray  1 
Punch  chortled  in  his  Joy." 

"  May  IsL 

"  '  At  opening  of  Crystal  Palace  *  (meaning,  of  course, 
Great  Exhibition)  says  my  diary  for  this  day  20  years. 
At  opening  of  International  Exhibition,  f  I  write 
to-day,  having  just  returned.  Went  in  carriage  with 
Torie  and  Jessie,  but  we  parted  near  the  doors,  and  E. 
and  I  having  white  tickets  (I  might  have  joined  in  the 
procession,  but  didn't  wish,  and  had  no  court  dress  or 
uniform),  got  into  the  Conservatory,  and,  standing 
on  chairs  during  the  ceremony,  saw  very  weU,  and 
heard  the  Prince  of  Wales  declare  the  place  '  open.' 

*  Sir  John  Coleridge,  the  Attorney-General,  whose  speech  had 
lasted  twenty-six  days !  The  proceedings  cost  the  Tichborne 
estate  ;f92,000 ! 

I  At  South  Kensington. 

457 


•SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

Then  in  an  awful  mob  of  swelldom,  under  the  hot  rays 
through  the  glass,  and  in  a  dead  lock  with  Delpierre 
and  a  lot  of  other  glittering  diplomatists,  some  Oriental. 
Very  badly  managed  by  officialism.  Then  into  the 
body  of  the  Conservatory,  and  sat  with  E.  Levy* 
and  his  wife.  At  last  we  got  away,  not  waiting  for  the 
concert,  cab,  and  home  by  2.  I  went  simply  and  solely 
to  please  Emily,  or  I  should  not  have  been  there. 
I  hate  crowds  and  ceremonials.     However,  'tis  done." 


"  May  4th. 

**  Work  as  usual,  f  Counted  for  E.  the  contents 
of  a  box  in  which  she  has  been  hoarding  silver  three- 
pences and  fourpences,  in  order  to  buy  Rego  a  new 
watch.  £3  10s.  6d.,  a  good  advance,  but  I  will  make 
it  up  to  what  is  wanted,  if  she  have  not  saved  it  by  his 
b.-d." 

♦  4:  «  4: 

*'  A  new  kitten,  from  Amy  Evans,  black,  and 
supposed  to  be  likely  to  be  curly  or  fluffy.  (This  grew, 
and  we  got  fond  of  it,  but  it  d.  June  7th,  and  we  don't 
know  why.  Hawes,  the  housemaid,  wished  it  could  be 
'  analyzed.')  " 

"  May  5th. 

''  Usual,  and  a  great  deal  for  Punch.  These  days, 
which  are  described  in  7  words,  mean  several  hours  of 
close  writing,  de  omnibus  rebus  et,  etc.  They  are  the 
bread-winners.  Mem.  This  week,  I  let  some  verses 
appear  for  the  second  time  in  Punch.  Was  inclined 
to  blame  Ancutt,  but  on  enquiry  found  the  MS.  had 

*  Lord  Bumham. 

t  Amongst  it  "  Morals  at  the  Academy,"  to  which  he  signs  himself 
"  Winkehnann  FuseU  Dobbs,"  a  method  of  treating  the  pictures 
which  might  well  be  repeated  for  the  amusement  of  a  later 
generation. 

458 


By  kind  permission  of  the  Proprietors  of  "  Punch 
SHIRLEY  BROOKS 
From  "  Once  a   Week  " 


THE  "  FRENCH  MONKEYS  "  &  THE  VENDOME 

gone  in  twice.  I  remembered  them,  of  course,  but 
supposed  I  had  let  them  stand  over.  The  accident 
had  one  good  result,  it  established  relations  between 
me  and  a  '  reader '  in  the  office,  Pincott,  who  wrote 
to  ask  that  he  might  send  me  note  of  anything  that 
occurred  to  him,  as  he  had  done  for  16  years  with  M.  L. 
Wrote  him  a  proper  note,  and  got  3  suggestions  on  the 
next  Sunday.  He  may  save  some  literal  and  other 
errors.  Punch  is  a  difficult  paper  to  revise,  as  there  is 
a  change  of  attitude  of  thought  with  each  article.** 

"  May  eth. 

*'  W.  H.  B.  showed  me  the  Banquet  Hall,  which 
proceeds  slowly  with  its  decorations."* 

"  May  Sth. 

''  Very  hot,  in  fact  oppressively  close,  so  that  one 
rejoiced  to  see  the  clouds  gather  blackly.  About  3.30 
down  came  as  heavy  rain  as  I  have  seen.  Thunder  and 
Hghtning.  Wondered  whether  in  Paris,  instead  of 
'  heaven^s  flashes  *  they  were  seeing  *  man's/  for  it  was 
said  that  Bismarck  had  told  Thiers  that  if  he  did  not 
go  in  to-day,  the  Germans  would.  But  wolf  has  been 
cried  often.  To-day  the  Vendome  column  was  to 
faU." 

The  column  stood,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  till  the  16th, 
when  Shirley  wrote  : — 

*'  The  French  monkeys  pulled  down  the  Vendome 
column  to-day  about  5.30  p.m.," 

and  inserted  the  Daily  News  telegram  : — 

''  Suddenly  there  arose  the  cry  of  '  It  falls  !  *  and 
slowly  the  huge  column  bowed  towards  the  Rue  de  la 
Paix.     As  it  fell  it  broke  into  several  pieces  in  the  air, 

*  For  description  of  the  Punch  dining-room  vide  Mr.  M.  H. 
Spielmann's  "  History  of  Punch,''  p.  60. 

459 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

falling  in  about  four  portions,  on  the  bed  of  sand  and 
dung.  A  loud,  dull  report  followed,  and  clouds  of  dust 
arose. 

''  The  crowds  instantly  dashed  forward  to  pick  up 
relics,  crying  '  Vive  la  Commune  /  '  *' 

*' May  nth. 

"  Noises  below,  enter  a  new  piano — borrowed. 
Curiously,  F.  Smith,  builder,  called,  just  as  we  have 
pulled  down  the  doors  of  his  conservatory.  Having 
writ  up  to  5, 1  descend  to  surrender  myself  to  the  revel. 
Began  by  dining  off  roast  beef  with  E.  in  the  study. 
Cigars  on  the  drawing-room  sofa,  in  Cecil's  carpenter's 
room.  Coffee.  Dress,  and  we  were  on  duty  by  9. 
At  half -past  9  came  Mrs.  Sothern.  Then  they  soon 
came  pouring  in,  and  by  11  we  had  90  visitors.  If  all 
had  come  there  would  have  been  47  more.  No  dis- 
appointments of  much  consequence,  except  Lady 
Thompson,  Sala,  and  Wilkie  Collins,  all  of  whom, 
specially  '  Kate,'  I  should  have  liked  to  see.  Mrs. 
Cress  wick  Jackson  led  off  with  a  song.  Sir  Julius 
Benedict  played  to  Miss  Philp,  Cusins  played  beau- 
tifully. Du  Maurier  sang,  so  did  Miss  Fergusson. 
Brinley  Richards  played.  Some  good  music,  argal. 
Croker  gave  his  capital  imitations.  Everybody  talked 
loud  and  laughingly — I  believe  people  enjoyed  them- 
selves. Rather  a  scramble  at  supper,  which  was  a 
capital  one,  E.  had  done  her  best,  and  I  made  the 
champagne  go.  I  took  down  Mrs.  Rousby,  who  looked 
lovely — she  was  the  star,  in  that  respect.  Soon  after 
12  some  went,  but  not  many.  I  got  some  supper,  at 
last,  taking  down  Mrs.  Jones,  Burnand's  pretty  sister- 
in-law.  The  last  to  linger  were  the  Nelsons,  Jerrolds, 
and  Burnand.  All  gone  by  about  2.30.  Cigars  on 
E.'s  sofa,  in  her  room,  while  she  undressed.  Put  out 
my  light  3.20.     The  largest  party  we  have  had,  and 

46Q 


MONSIGNOR  CAPEL 

a  very  good  one.  *  An  excellent  piece  of  work,  Madam 
wife,  and  I  am  awfully  glad  it  is  done/  to  adapt  the 
excellent  Mr.  Christopher  Sly." 

"  May  I3th. 

*'  Punch.  Cold  day,  east  wind,  Leigh  wished  me  a 
merry  Xmas — had  a  fire.  How  right  Cowper  was 
about  May.  Papers  to  Rego.  Got  through  work  by 
5.30,  dressed,  and  to  Willis's  rooms,  Newspaper  Press 
Dinner.  Saw  lots  of  people  I  knew — Boys,  Lord 
Houghton,  Thoms,  James  Matthews,  Heather  Bigg, 
Wigan,  B.  Jerrold,  and  many  more.  Excellently  placed, 
as  regarded  neighbours,  at  end  of  table,  on  chairman's 
right 

Arthur  Helps 
BeresfordHope.  R.  J.Phillimore.  S.B.  Monsnr. Capel. 

This  was  capital,  I  wanted  to  know  Capel,  the 
*  Catesby '  of  '  Lothair.'  He  is  delightful — quite  the 
Jesuit  type — and  full  of  information,  and  I  won't  say* 
ostentatious  effort  to  be  exactly  just  in  his  descriptions 
of  folk.  Anecdotes,  but  not  new — but  are  new 
anecdotes  possible  ?  I  take  it  that  it  is  his  business 
to  become  intimate  with  people.  I  like  him.  Said  he 
thought  it  unwise  in  Doyle  to  leave  P.f  Much  music, 
and  several  things  played  and  sung  in  a  batch,  but 
between  speeches,  don't  see  the  sense  of  this.  All  the 
ladies  close  to  us.  For  the  most  part  not  radiant 
angels.     I  spoke  about  10,  and  was  short,  but  I  believe 

*  It  is  curious  to  find  Shirley,  in  this  case  apparently  by  a  slip  of 
the  pen,  saying,  and  refusing  to  say,  in  the  same  breath.  Cf,  the 
deliberate  use  of  the  same  rhetorical  figure  in  the  Man  in  the  Moon 
quoted  on  p.  54. 

f  "  Dicky  "  Doyle  was  a  devout  CathoUc  and  resented  Punch's 
hostile  attitude  towards  the  Papacy.  The  crisis  came  when  Jerrold 
advised  the  Pope  to  **  feed  his  flock  on  the  wafer  of  the  Vatican." 
This  happened  in  1850. 

461 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

I  did  well  enough.     Made  myself  heard.     Left  as  soon 
as  I  well  could." 

*'  May  im. 

"  I  read  Goldsmith,  variously.  What  did  Dr. 
Johnson  cancel ^  when  he  finished  the  '  Traveller '  for 
him  ?  Forgot  if  I  ever  knew,  that  the  last  four  lines 
of  the  '  Deserted  Village '  are  Johnson's.  They  are 
lofty,  but  they  were  not  wanted,  Goldsmith's  finish  was 
in  better  keeping  with  the  poem."* 

"  May  19th, 

"  My  nonsense  *  Prophecy,' f  as  heretofore,  and  not, 
I  trust,  less  absurd  than  when  I  invented  the  feature. 
*  *  ♦  * 

''  Prince  Arthur  fell  out  of  window,  Buckingham 
Palace." 

"  May  21st. 

"  Went  into  the  '  Ornamental ' — a  warm,  fine  after- 
noon— had  a  cigar,  read  Plato's  *  Republic,'  under  a 
tree,  and  felt  that  I  had  much  to  be  thankful  for.  Wish 
I  could  get  rid  of  a  pain  in  my  left  side,  which  I  am  told 
is  of  a  mechanical  sort,  arising  from  too  much  fat,  or 
else  is  wind.  It  often  goes  away  for  a  long  time. 
Plato  very  good  about  old  age,  which  frees  you  from 
several  *  furious  masters,'  but  he  might  add  that  it 
subjects  you  to  some  sulky  ones." 

♦  To  **  The  Traveller  "  Johnson  furnished  line  420, 
"  To  stop  too  fearful,  and  too  faint  to  go," 
together  with  the  last  ten  Hues,  except  the  last  couplet  but  one. 
This  couplet  contains  Goldsmith's  mistake  about  "  Luke's  iron 
crown.*'  As  a  matter  of  fact  it  was  not  Luke  Zeck,  but  George,  his 
brother,  who  was  punished  by  his  head  being  encircled  with  a  red-hot 
iron  crown. 

f  "  Punch's  Derby  Prophecy,"  which  was  now  an  annual  feature 
of  the  paper. 

462 


THE  MISCREANTS   OF  THE  COMMUNE 

S.  B.  TO  Percival  Leigh. 

"  6  Kent  Terrace, 

"  Regent's  Park, 

"  N.W. 

"  Rogation  Sunday. 
"  {Ergo,  rogo.) 

"  My  dear  Leigh, 

'*  Does  it  occur  to  you  to  write  a  few  lines  on  the 
fact  that  '  The  Astronomer  Royal  is  made  a  C.B/  ?  * 

*'  He  is  a  good  fellow,  and  'tis  fit  that  if  a  C.B.  be  an 
honour,  such  should  have  it. 

*'  Fault  of  better,  the  above  hne  '  The  Astronomer,'* 
etc.,  would  make  a  sort  of  burden  to  the  verse,  but  of 
course  I  only  mention  this  to  save  you  trouble. 

''  I  delivered  my  oration,  and  sat  next  Monsignor 
Capel,  who  is  delightful,  but  fear  not  thou  for  my 
religion." 

"  May  24th. 

**  While  England  was  at  the  horse  race  (the  Derby) 
Paris  was  in  flames.  The  miscreants  of  the  Commune 
fired  the  Tuileries,  the  Louvre  and  various  other  public 
buildings.  We  heard  of  this  at  night,  and  hoped  the 
story  was  exaggerated.  But  next  morning  brought 
the  confirmation.  It  is  horrible.  I  have  had  no  such 
sensation  since  the  war  began." 
"  May  25th. 

'*  Papers  full  of  the  infernal  news  from  Paris.  I  can't 
write  about  it  here.  So  much  for  equality  and  atheism." 
"  May  29th. 

*'  Brutal  and  horrible  news  from  Paris,  the  Arch- 
bishop and  numbers  of  other  *  hostages '  have  been 

*  The  result  was  the  very  poor  "  Airy,  C.  B.,"  Punch,  May  27th, 
in  which  Leigh  did  use  the  proposed  hne,  and  perhaps  found  it  a 
burden  to  himself  as  well  as  to  the  verses. 

463 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

murdered,  and  on  the  other  hand  the  soldiers,  and  the 
still  more  savage  because  lately  cowardly  *  party  of 
order,*  are  slaughtering  wholesale.*  Women  and 
children  murder  and  fire  houses,  and  are  killed.  Lord 
Stanhope  says  Carlyle  has  pen  in  hand  on  the  state  of 
things — it  is  far  worse  than  anything  in  his  noble  book 
on  the  Revolution.  .  .  . 

"  Holiday  at  Stamp  Offices,  and  elsewhere,  the  first 
under  the  new  Act  called  the  '  Bank  HoHdays  Act,' 
which  tells  people  not  to  do  on  Easter  Monday,  Whit- 
Monday,  the  1st  Monday  in  August,  and  the  day  after 
Xmas  Day,  anything  they  are  not  obliged  to  do  on 
Good  Friday  or  Xmas  Day.  Sir  John  Lubbockf 
haec  otia  fecit'* 

"  May  3\st. 

'*  I  suggested  the  idea  of  the  cut,  a  British  Fire- 
Engine,  to  which  T.  T.  suggested  the  addition  of  a 
French  one,  and  after  a  very  long  discussion,  as 
Jackides  did  not  '  see '  it,  this  was  agreed  on."  J 

"  June  2nd. 

"  Read  that  A.  Arcedekn^§  had  d.,  only  49,  but  he 
had  *  lived.'  What  a  time  I  have  known  him.  When 
I  first  knew  him  he  had  a  small  income,  and  was  living 
very  merrily  with  a  Miss  Carey,  and  their  hfe  was  a 

*  On  the  evening  of  the  24th  the  Archbishop,  Abbe  Deguerry, 
President  Bonjean,  and  sixty-four  other  hostages,  were  executed 
in  the  prison  of  La  Roquette. 

t  Lord  Avebury. 

X  The  result  was  a  double  cut  entitled  "  The  Two  Fire-Engines." 
The  first  represented  French  cannon  "  to  be  avoided  by  England  ;  " 
the  second  an  Enghsh  fire-engine  pumping  out  a  stream  of  common 
sense  "to  be  borrowed  by  France." 

§  The  prototype  of  Foker  in  "  Pendennis."  He  married  an 
actress  named  Elsworthy. 

464 


''THE  SAME  IS  ON  THE  GATE  OF  HELL" 

laugh.  I  don't  think  he  was  happier  afterwards,  and 
then  he  got  into  a  hole  through  putting  his  name  to 
other  folks'  bills.  Of  late,  I  believe,  he  was  very  quiet, 
with  a  wife  of  an  odd  sort.  I  believe  he  was  a  kindly 
little  man,  in  his  way.  The  last  time  I  saw  him  was, 
I  think,  on  Brighton  New  Pier,  October  10th.  He 
had  sent  me  pheasants  during  my  illness,  and  I  remem- 
ber another  kindness  :  he  gave  me  a  seat  in  his  opera 
box  when  the  Emperor  and  Empress  came  to  Covent 
Garden,  and  I  had  an  excellent  view  of  them.   R.I. P." 

On  the  same  date  he  wrote  to  Miss  Matthews  : — 

"  Percival  Leigh  told  me  a  good  story  last  night ; 
he  stated  that  the  inscription  which  Dante  saw  over 
a  certain  gate  *  Lasciate  ogni  Speranza/  etc.,  had  been 
taken  down  and  '  Id  on  parte  Fr unguis  '  put  up. 

"  P.S. — The  '  Lusciate  ogni  Sperunzu^  etc.,  reminds 
me  of  another  story  in  which  we  Protestants  didn't 
get  the  best  of  it.  In  old  days  some  Irish  bigot  wrote 
up  over  the  gate  of  his  almshouses — 

"  *  Here,  Jew,  or  Turk,  or  Athe^'s^, 
May  enter  in,  but  no  Papz^s^.' 

"  To  which  a  Catholic  rejoined — 

"  '  Who  wrote  this  verse  has  written  well, 
The  same  is  on  the  gate  of  — .'  " 

"  lune  3rd. 

'*  W.  H.  B.  said  that  he  had  heard  general  expression 
of  opinion  that  Punch  had  greatly  improved.  Fred 
present  at  this.  I  know  I  have  excluded  much  dulness, 
but  I  have  not  got  it  up  to  the  point  of  sparkle  I  want. 
O  for  a  man  to  do  everything,  as  I  may  conscientiously 
say  I  did,  for  years,  for  M.  L." 

"  lune  4th. 

"  Looked  through  an    odd  book   from  Blackwood, 

465 

31— (2297) 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

the  '  Coming  Race  '* — an  attempt  to  describe  an 
improved  set  of  beings,  but  most  of  the  book  dull,  and 
no  real  novelty,  after  Swift  and  the  Peter  Wilkinsf 
creatures/* 

**  June  6th. 

''  E.  asked  me,  in  writing  my  memories,  not  to  put 
in  sundry  things  which  make  us  laugh,  but  are  best 
forgotten — a  kindly  thought/* 

''  June  lOth. 

''  Came  by  appointment,  Arthur  Hamilton,  Station- 
ers' Hall  Court,  to  offer  me  the  '  London  Letter  *  which 
E.  Yates  has  foolishly  flung  up.  Good  terms,  5  guineas 
a  week.  I  should  have  liked  it  some  time  ago — now, 
of  course,  my  position  forbids  my  signing  a  column  of 
gossip,  and  they  want  the  name.  Recommended  Sala. 
*  *  *  * 

"  Rego  sends  his  College  papers,  the  exam,  awfully 
stiff,  and  it  does  him  the  highest  honour  to  have 
answered  so  many  questions,  some  of  a  most  searching 
kind.  He  marked  those  he  replied  to.  God  bless  him, 
and  make  him  a  happiness  to  himself  and  to  his  mother, 
whether  I  live  or  go  !  But  I  hope  to  be  spared  to  help 
him  and  Cecil  on.** 

"  June  lOth. 

"  Talk  about  the  new  Punch  Banquet  Hall,  in  which 
it  is  proposed  to  dine  on  Tuesday,  which  was  to  have 
been  Wednesday,  but  I  had  the  day  altered,  because  of 
Frith' s  dinner.  Kiki  has  done  an  invitation  card, 
with  our  portraits  ;  I  am  perched  on  Mr.  Punch's  head, 
and  have  the  *  knife  *  which  I  used  to  throw  down  as 
•signal  that  to  my  mind  we  had  a  good  cut.** 

*  Published  anonymously  this  year  by  Lord  Lytton. 

•f  "  Ljf^  and  Adventures  of  Peter  Wilkins/'  by  Robert  Paltock. 

466 


THE  NEW  BANQUETING  HALL 

"  June  \3th. 

''  This  was  the  day  of  our  first  dining  in  the  hand- 
some room  that  has  been  fitted  up  at  No.  10  Bouverie 
Street.  The  dinner  was  to  have  been  Wednesday,  and 
is  so  mentioned  on  *  Kiki^s  Kard/  but  I  asked  Tuesday, 
being  engaged  Wednesday.  Went  down  early.  The 
men  met  in  my  room.  All  attended,  except  H.  Mayhew, 
who  was  ill,  so  to  him  we  sent  a  picture  of  himself  in  bed, 
nursed  by  Kiki,  as  an  old  woman,  Kiki's  drawing,  and 
we  signed  it.  A  special  sort  of  repast,  with  turtle, 
from  Ring  (Birch's).  All  excellent.  Party  very 
friendly  and  merry.  Tichborne  case  the  chief  topic, 
and  questions  of  memory,  some  contending  that  a  man 
could  forget  all  his  child-life,  friends,  teachers,  books, 
homes.  I  do  not  think  many  men  can  make  such 
tahulcB  rascB  of  their  minds.  We  drank  to  '  dear  old 
Punch'  by  W.  H.  B.  No  '  speakings.'  Three  cuts 
were  suggested,  Leigh  one  about  '  John  Bull  and  the 
Army  Purchase  Money ; '  Taylor  one, '  The  Cabinet  Cart 
struggling  up  hill,  with  loss  of  baggage  ;  *  Brooks  one, 

*  Gladstone  as  a  Pioneer,  cutting  into  an  enchanted 
wood  of  military  vested  interests.'*  This  was  adopted, 
and  T.  T.  gave  J.  T.  the  words.  Sambourne  d.  with  us, 
first  time,  but  as  a  guest  on  this  special  occasion  only, 
at  present.  I  proposed  the  *  Five  Partners.'  Going 
away,  I  said  I  hoped  we  should  have  many  hundreds 
of  jolly  dinners  there,  and  the  answer  was  *  Hooray.' 
There  !  So  much  for  a  meeting  that  has  been  in  view 
for  many  a  day,  and  it  was  very  successful." 

"  June  I6th. 

''  Actually,  contributions  from  Ponny  for  Punch  / 
They  must  be  set  up  before  I  have  an  opinion,  I 

•  *  "  The  British  Pioneers,"  representing  Gladstone  and  Cardwell 
hewing  down  Army  abuses  in  face  of  the  opposing  "  Colonels." 

467 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

can't  read    his   spiders,    now   more    wriggling    than 
ever."* 

"  June  nth. 

"  L.  Romer  has  got  £100  for  her  picture  of  the 
*  Betrothal/  from  Waring.  Come,  my  protegee  pros- 
pers. She  calls  herself  so,  though  I  have  not  done  so 
much.     Yet  I  have  served  her.'* 

"  June  20th. 

*'  Tichborne  case  still  on,  and  to-day  came  to  this 
point.  Sir  John  Coleridge  asked  the  claimant,  '  Are 
you  Arthur  Orton  ? '  Seems  that  Ballantine  told  his 
client,  the  claimant,  that  it  would  be  either  success,  or 
penal  servitude.  Sir  A.  Cockburnf  wishes  he  were 
counsel  in  it — he  '  could  have  doubled  the  fellow  up 
much  quicker.'  " 

''  July  9th. 

*'  Discussed  '  my  health,*  as  Burnand  says,  and 
nearly  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  I  ought  to  make 
a  complete  holiday,  at  some  foreign  *  Bad  '  at  any  price, 
and  Carlsbad,  if  Erasmus  Wilson  approves.  I  feel  that 
this  would  be  a  wise  course,  and  it  might  give  me  many 
years  of  health  to  work  for  '  my  three.'  '* 

"  July  Wh. 

*'  Cancelled  a  leaf  in  an  old  diary,  because  I  had 
expressed  myself  intemperately,  and  from  temper. 
Had  it  been  a  sincere  entry,  it  should  have  stayed, 
with  a  comment." 

*'  July  2eth. 

*'  W.  B.  told  me  that  every  one  mentioned  to  him 
the  great  and  marked  improvement  in  Punch.     It  is 

*  Apparently  they  were  not  found  suitable,  for  Mr.  Spielmann 
says  that  nothing  appeared  from  Mayhew's  pen  for  some  years 
before  his  death,  and  he  died  in  May,  1872. 

I  Who  afterwards  presided  over  the  criminal  trial. 

468 


A  SNOBBISH  CELEBRITY 

improved,  but  it  is  not  what  I  hope  to  make  it.     My 
men  are  bricks,  but  not  hvely/* 

It  was  about  this  time,  Mrs.  Panton  tells  me,  that 
Shirley  met  at  Mr.  Frith' s  house,  where  he  used  to  dine 
Sunday  after  Sunday,  a  very  celebrated  personage 
whose  name  was  upon  every  one's  lips.  Shirley  had 
lately  been  in  the  country  and  seen  the  great  man's 
parents,  a  worthy  couple  who  kept  a  toll-bar.  On  his 
introduction  by  Mr.  Frith,  Shirley  said  : — 

''  I  saw  your  people  at last  week,  Mr. ,  and 

they  are  longing  for  a  sight  of  you." 

The  great  man  turned  and  fixed  him  with  a  glare — 

**  I  have  no  people  at ,  Mr.  — er  Brooks,"  he  said 

and  turned  away. 

''  Well,  that's  a  good  one,"  said  Shirley  to  Miss 
Frith,  ''  his  old  mother  showed  me  a  tea-tray  he'd 
given  her,  and  a  letter,  and  told  me  she  had  only  had 
glimpses  of  him  since  he'd  gone  out  to  be  a  servant  to 
the  family  whose  name  he  had  taken,  but  he'd  promised 
to  run  down  and  see  them  this  time,  and  I  was  to  give 
the  message.     I'll  be  hanged  if  I  speak  to  the  skunk." 

It  is  only  right  to  add  that  the  following  year 
Shirley  took  up  the  cudgels  on  behalf  of  the  great 
man,  when  he  found  the  world  cavilling  at  his 
undoubtedly  notable  achievement. 

S.  B.  TO  Mrs.  F.  Romer  (Mrs.  Jopling  Rowe). 
''  My  dear  Mrs.  Romer, 

''  I  am  so  glad  to  think  you  are  out  of  detestable 
London  (which  is  the  best  place  in  the  whole  world, 
however,  except  just  now),  and  that  you  are  looking  at 
and  diving  into  the  '  melancholy  ocean,'  as  Mr.  Disraeli 
chooses  to  call  it. 

469 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

**  I  wish  I  was  as  fortunate.  I  cannot  get  away  yet, 
however,  and  when  I  do  go,  I  suppose  it  will  be  to 
Harrogate,  as  I  am  told  the  waters  will  renovate  the 
Brooks.  My  folks  will  very  likely  go  to  Scotland — 
my  elder  boy  is  making  a  walking-tour  in  the  Lakes, 
and  writes  from  Ambleside — which  I  have  never  seen, 
but  the  young  get  everything  in  these  days. 

'*  I  make  Sunday  '  outs,'  like  a  housemaid,  and  was 
yesterday  at  Mr.  Burnand's,  Edgware,  lying  in  an  easy- 
chair  and  smoking,  with  the  like  athletic  sports.  But 
there  was  a  nohle  moon  to  Hght  up  the  pretty  country, 
coming  home.  I  suppose  you  have  no  moons  in  Wales, 
which  is  a  pity.     The  Irish  bard  says  : — 

**  *  Long  life  to  the  moon,  for  a  fine  noble  creature. 

That  serves  us  with  lamplight  each  night  in  the  dark. 
While  the  sun  only  shines  in  the  day,  which,  by  nature. 
Wants  no  Hght  at  all,  as  you  all  may  remark.' 

"  I  have  my  solitary  *  eat '  at  the  '  Bedford  *  most 
Saturdays.  I  was  there  the  other  night,  but  heard  no 
news,  except  that  .  .  .  folks  are  getting  away.  .  .  . 
Mr.  Frith  asked  us  for  a  final  dinner  yesterday,  but  we 
were  engaged,  or  I  should  have  liked  to  see  him.  He  is 
going  to  Boulogne-upon-the-sea.  The  head  of  your 
profession,  I  mean  of  course.  Sir  Edwin  Landseer,  is 
not  at  all  better,  indeed,  I  hear,  from  the  best  authority, 
that  mentally  he  is  worse,  and  in  that  provoking  con- 
dition of  mind  that  makes  him  see  enemies  in  friends  : 
it  is  sad  that  there  should  be  such  an  evening  to  such 
a  life.*  ...  If  I  were  you  (and  do  not  I  wish  that  I 
were),  I  would  not  work  much  while  making  holiday. 
It  spoils  two  things  and  prevents  your  returning  hke 
a  Giantess  refreshed.     When  I  get  away,  I  try  not  even 

*  He  died  in  1873. 

470 


SIR  JAMES  PAGET 

to  answer  letters,  and  am  sometimes  successful.     We 
all  work  too  hard — as  I  have  said  in  print  this  week. 
''  Believe  me, 

''  Always  yours  affectionately, 
''  Shirley  Brooks." 

"  August  5th. 

''  Wrote  four  lines  on  Paget's  baronetcy.  Repeated 
them  to  Rego,  who  said,  '  There's  any  of  our  legs  off, 
gratis.'  " 

"THE  SWORD  OF  MERCY. 

"  Mr.  Paget,  the  eminent  surgeon,  has  received  a  baronetcy." 

**  Thanks  for  the  word,  good  Queen,  which  thou  hast  said — 
*  Give  the  Red  Hand  to  Paget,  wise  and  brave  * : 
For  when  his  firm  and  gentle  hand  is  red, 
Tis  dyed  that  he  may  succour  or  may  save." 

The  following  letter  refers  to  the  Walter  Scott 
Centenary  Dinner  at  which  Hepworth  Dixon  was  about 
to  preside  : — 

S.  B.  TO  William  Hepworth  Dixon. 

"  '  Punch  '  Office,  85  Fleet  St., 
"  nth  August,  1871. 
"  My  dear  Hepworth, 

*'  I  have  every  prospect  of  getting  away  on 
Sunday,  and  as  it  is  matter  of  health  I  do  not  like — 
at  least  I  do  like,  but  I  oughtn't  to  give  up  the  duty 
for  the  pleasure  I  should  have  in  attending  the  banquet. 
So  give  the  toast  to  a  worthier  son  of  Sparta  (and  bid 
him  be  Spartan),  and  believe  me  that  I  am  really 
sensible  of  your  kindness  in  offering  it  to  me.  I  wish 
you  a  great  success,  which  they  have  not  had  in  the 
north.  The  high  priest  of  drunkenness,  blasphemy, 
and  obscenity,  Robert  Burns,  takes  all  the  shine  out 
of  his  betters,  there. 

''  Ever  yours, 

''S.  Br 

471 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

"  August  15th. 

'*  It  is  the  Scott  centenary  (b.  15th  August,  1771), 
and  in  all  heartiness  drank  to  the  memory  of  one  who 
has  done  me  more  good,  and  given  me  more  pleasure 
than  any  other  writer.  What  loads  of  his  poetry 
I  know,  and  how  pleasant  it  is  (vide  Hallam)  to  repeat 
it  when  one  is  alone.  I  hope  I  shall  see  him,  long,  long 
before  his  next  centenary. 

3|C  9|*  9|C  5|C 

"  '  You  have  worked  too  long  and  too  hard,'  writes 
Dr.  Sibson  to  me.     It  is  true,  and  I  must  have  a 
holiday.     But  I  have  worked  for  thenij  and  that  is 
enough.'' 
"  August  l&h. 

'*  We  got  a  good  cut,  not  exactly  in  honour  of 
Mr.  Gladstone,  who  deserves  dishonour  at  our  hands, 
for  next  day  I  heard  that  he  had  told  Mrs.  Lemon  that 
there  was  no  hope  of  a  pension  for  her.*  However, 
Punch  can't  make  a  personal  matter  the  basis  of  his 
policy,  but  I  think  G.  has  been  as  handsome  in  the  cuts 
as  he  is  likely  to  be." 

On  August  19th  Shirley  was  at  last  able  to  get  away 
to  Harrogate,  again  leaving  Percival  Leigh  as  his  locum 
tenens.  He  put  up  at  the  ''  Granby,"  ''  stately  sort  of 
hotel,  the  aristocratic  one,  it  seems."     Here  he  soon 

*  The  pension  was  given,  as  we  have  seen,  and  Gladstone  sweet- 
ened the  gift  by  declaring  that  Mark  Lemon  had  "  raised  the  level 
of  comic  journalism  to  its  present  standard."  The  cut  referred  to 
represents  Gladstone,  as  Mrs.  Britannia's  Butler,  sa3dng,  "  Before 
taking  leave  for  my  holiday,  my  lady,  may  I  venture  to  hope  that 
my  conduct,  and  that  of  the  other  servants,  has  given  you  every 
satisfaction."  To  which  Britannia  answers,  "  Take  your  holiday, 
Ewart.  The  less  said  about  the  rest  the  better,"  referring  to  the 
fact  that  the  session  had  been  particularly  barren  of  useful 
legislation. 

472 


RECOGNITION   IN  HEAVEN 

became  the  centre  of  an  admiring  circle,  talking  much 
and  making  many  friends. 

'*  August  23rd. 

''  Spoke  of  the  wisdom  of  discharging  a  flogged 
criminal  at  once,  that  he  might  go  among  his  people 
with  the  stigmata  upon  him,  and  see  whether  he 
continued  their  hero/* 

**  August  21th. 

''  Sir  F.  Hughes  lent  me  a  little  memoir  of  his  wife  : 
the  writer  strong  on  our  certain  recognition  of  friends 
in  Heaven,  about  which  I  have  never  had  a  gleam  of 
doubt — told  Sir  F.  H.  so,  and  he  said  he  would  rather 
have  heard  it  from  an  educated  man  than  £20/' 

**  August  2Sth. 

''  Walked  with  Hicks,*  a  short  path  by  the  water, 
till  Fountains  [Abbey]  broke  on  me,  as  the  end  of  a 
vista,  between  trees.  A  noble  sight.  But  the  sight 
was  nobler  when  we  came  near.  It  is  a  ruin,  but  it  is 
so  little  ruined  that  one  imagines  the  monks  driven 
away,  for  a  time,  by  some  magic,  and  intending  to  come 
back,  restore,  and  renew  their  worship.  I  found  a 
place,  a  low  old  wall  to  lie  on,  whence  I  looked  at  two 
angles  of  the  great  tower,  and  all  being  silent  except 
the  birds,  I  deeply  enjoyed  the  scene  for  an  hour,  alone. 
The  place  has  been  admirably  tended.  Our  party 
gathered,  and  we  sat  in  the  E.  window.  Very  few 
other  visitors,  all  quiet,  but  some  lady  told  me  she  had 
seen,  at  some  past  day,  dancing  in  the  nave  !  " 

"  August  30th. 

"  — Wrote  a  little  sea-side  dramaf  for  Punch,  1 J  col., 
as  there  is  no  '  Essence.'  " 

*  Probably  Henry  Hicks,  the  geologist. 
t  "  A  Seaside  Tragedy,"  Punch,  Sept.  9th,  p.  101. 

473 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

Notwithstanding  Shirley's  advice  given  in  a  preced- 
ing letter,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  ''  spoil ''  his  own  rare 
holidays  by  working.  Scarcely  a  day  passed  without 
one  or  more  letters  to  his  deputy,  scarcely  a  day  that 
he  did  not  forward  something  to  help  the  "  make-up/' 
Far  away  though  he  was  from  the  horses,  he  still  kept 
a  tight  hand  on  the  reins.  An  excerpt  from  a  letter  of 
Sept.  17th,  to  William  Bradbury  makes  this  very 
clear  : — 

**  Dear  old  Professor  does  his  work  very  carefully, 
and  I  can  easily  understand  he  enjoys  it,  but  of  course 
I  have  my  wire  laid  on  to  him,  and  this  facility  hugely 
promotes  my  own  peace  of  mind." 

How  actively  he  kept  the  "  wire  "  operating  is  obvious 
from  the  letters  which  follow  : — 

S.  B.  TO  Percival  Leigh. 

"  Granby  Hotel, 

**  Harrogate, 

"  August  23rd,  71. 

"  My  dear  Leigh, 

*'  Thanks  for  your  note  of  yesterday.  I  hope  you 
had  a  pleasant  repast,  and  struck  out  a  good  thing. 
But  no  doubt  this  will  cross  a  note  from  you.  I  sent 
up  the  *  Essence ' — may  send  up  some  bits.  The 
Sambourne  cut  will  be  all  right. 

"  We  have  had  lovely  weather,  but  it  is  very  wet 
to-day.  However,  we  are  a  very  large  party  here,  and 
can  amuse  one  another  ;  the  drawing-rooms  always 
contain  many  ladies  who  are  willing  to  talk  and  laugh, 
and  when  one  wants  a  change,  there  is  a  smoking-room 

474 


HIGH  LIFE  BELOW  STAIRS 

with  several  habitues  who  know  men  and  cities.  I  do 
not  think  that  there  is  a  book  in  the  house,  except  the 
Visitors'  Book,  which  is  not  exciting.  But,  though  the 
air  is  beautiful,  and  sweeps  over  the  moors,  health- 
bringing,  there  is  a  marvellous  exposition  of  sleep 
comes  on  one,  and  a  decided  indisposition  to  mental 
effort. 

**  I  have  no  particular  progress  to  report  touching 
myself.  *  From  information  I  received,'  I  thought  it 
best  to  acclimatize  myself,  before  going  at  the  sulphurs, 
and  this  I  do  under  medical  advice  here,  to  which  I  am 
accredited  by  my  own  doctor. 

*'  Swain  sent  me  two  sketches  by  Ralston.*  I  have 
accepted  one,  and  written  direct  to  Ralston  to  say  so. 
You  will  have  it  in  due  course — small  boys  and  a  huge 
dog.  Perhaps  you  will  mention  this  to  Swain  (and  give 
him  my  address,  in  case  he  has  anything  to  say  or  send 
to  me,)  on  Friday. 

'*  There  is  an  odd  custom  here  which  must  have 
existed  in  the  days  of  Mr.  Matthew  Bramble  (do  you 
remember  about  Harrogate  in  '  Humphrey  Clinker  '  ?). 
The  first  man  servant  of  a  gentleman  who  arrives  at  an 
hotel  in  the  season  is  called  '  My  Lord,'  and  treated  with 
reverence  by  all  his  fellow  servants.  The  domestic  of 
a  friend  of  mine  here  wears  the  honour,  and  told  the 
ladies'  maid  that  *  he  was  a  nobleman,  but  not  a  good 
match,  so  he  wasn't  afraid  of  being  run  away  with  by 
any  of  the  ladies.'     The  menial  has  humour. 

"  Ever  yours  faithfully, 

**  Shirley  Brooks." 


*  Mr.  W.  Ralston,  who  was  about  this  time  "  discovered " 
by  Mr.  Joseph  Swain  and  introduced  to  Shirley  Brooks.  He 
contributed  regularly  to  Punch  for  about  ten  years. 

475 


SHIRLEY   BROOKS 

Ditto  to  Ditto. 

"  Granby  Hotel, 

"  Harrogate, 

"  August  25th,  1871. 

"  My  dear  Professor, 

''  I  have  no  doubt  that  Jackides  will  make  a 
capital  holiday  cut,  and  the  title  is  excellent.  To- 
morrow, of  course,  I  shall  get  the  number,  and  should 
there  be  anything  to  suggest,  I  shall  telegraph  to  you 
at  No.  10,  saying  that  a  parcel  is  coming.  In  fact,  I'll 
telegraph  in  any  circumstances,  to  make  aU  minds 
easy,  though  I  daresay  that  I  shall  have  nothing  to  say. 
You  will  have  found  that  I  sent  up  a  few  scraps,  and 
returned  the  proof  '  Essence.'  Sambourne's  picture* 
is  remarkable — nearly  as  good  as  dear  old  Bennett 
would  have  been. 

*'  Just  look  at  my  '  Hamlet '  quotation  ;  first,  is  it  in 
'  Hamlet '  ;  second,  if  the  first  words  should  be 
altered  please  alter — the  end  I  think  must  remain — 
'  Roundeird  into  sleep.' f 

"  Yesterday  wet ;  to-day  sun,  but  blowing  half-a-dozen 
gales. 

''  I  believe  that  like  the  Indian  Quaker,  who  was 
very  holy  all  day,  but  at  night  went  out  and  as  '  Nick 
of  the  Woods  '  slew  Indians  by  the  dozen,  you  have  two 
characters — are  jolly  at  the  Council  Board,  and  disguise 
yourself  afterwards  and  go  and  make  people  take  the 
pledge. 


*  A  wonderful  initial  "  T  "  covering  three-quarters  of  the  page. 
Punch,  Sept.  2nd,  p.  87. 

f  For  once  Shirley's  memory  was  at  fault.  It  was  Prospero  who 
spoke  of  hfe  **  being  rounded  with  a  sleep." 

476 


A  NOTABLE   "CARET" 

'*  Remember  me  to  all  who  will  take  brandy  and 
seltzer  in  your  editorial  chamber  on  Saturday. 

'*  Ever  yours,  obliged 

*'  S   R 
"  NichoUs  of  Mile  End,  Esq." 

S.  B.  TO  W.  H.  Bradbury. 

"  Granby  Hotel, 
"  Harrogate, 

"  August  22nd,  71. 

*'  My  dear  William, 

''  Poor  Mrs.  Lemon  has  got  from  Gladstone's 
secretary  an  answer  assuring  her  that  '  her  claims  to 
a  pension  on  the  Civil  List  have  been  carefully  consi- 
dered.    But  in  view  of  the  number  of  pressing  cases 

*  much  regrets  that  he 
before  him  he   a  cannot  give  any  pledge  whatever  on 
the  subject.' 

*'  (The  words  with  caret  are  in  the  note  as  I  have 
given  them — happy  after-thought,  *  be  civil.').  So 
much  for  that  matter.  I  think  we  might  try 
indirect  pressure,  or  at  all  events  manage  to  get 
such  a  decided  appeal  as  would  justify  our  bringing 
the  case  forward.  I  will  write  to  you  again  with  my 
notions  hereon. 

''  I  am  here  and  not  before  it  was  needful  to  come. 
'  You  have  worked  too  hard  and  too  long,'  says 
Dr.  Sibson,  and  unless  I  conquer  those  results  of  gout, 
I  shall  submerge  one  of  these  days.  However,  I  am 
going  at  work  in  earnest  with  the  waters,  and  I  hope 
that  I  shall  soon  find  an  increase  of  vitality. 

'*  If  you  come  up,  I  suppose  it  will  be  to  return  to 
the  fresh  air,  which  I  hope  is  doing  good  to  you  and 

477 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

yours.     Remember  me  kindly  to  Wagnew,   Jagnew 
and  Tagnew,*     and 

*'  Believe  me 

"  Ever  yours  faithfully, 

''  Shirley  Brooks. 
"  W.  H.  B.,  Esq/' 

S.  B.  TO  Percival  Leigh. 

"  Granby  Hotel, 

"  Harrogate, 

"  August  29th. 

"  My  dear  Leigh, 

'*  Touching  the  '  L.C/,f  I  need  not  remark  that 
the  times  are  '  barren,  barren,  beggars  all/  I  hope 
that  some  '  happy  thought '  will  strike  the  Council, 
and  that  my  suggestions  will  be  merely  used  in  case 
you  don't  find  anything  better. 

'M.  Thiers  resigning  every  twenty  minutes  is  not 
unamusing,  and  we  have  not  had  a  foreign  cut  for  some 
time.  If,  somehow,  he  could  be  made  as  a  very  little, 
cocky  old  husband,  bullying  a  handsome  wife,  France, 
and  swearing  that  if  he  were  interfered  with  in  the 
management  of  the  house,  he  would  get  a  divorce — or 
have  a  separation — it  might  be  comic.  She  might  say 
'  Mais  J  mon  cher  petit  Adolphe,  I  would  do  all  you  like  ; 
do  not  be  so  '^  bumpshus,''  my  little  angel.' 

"2.  The  French  overtures  to  Ireland,  or  Ireland 
fawning  on  the  French.  John  Bull  might  be  looking 
at  Ireland  doing  this  to  a  Republican^  and  saying  (to 
this  effect),  '  You  think  he  will  be  a  better  friend  to 
you  than  your  old  Grumpy.  I  thought  you  tried  that 
some  years  ago  (the  time  when  France  deluded  Ireland 
with  hopes,  and  then  said  that  '^  having  effected  the 

*  (Sir)  William,  Mr.  John  and  Mr.  Thomas  Agnew. 
t  The  Large  Cut. 

478 


PETULANT  MONSIEUR  THIERS 

desired  diversion,  she  had  done  all  that  was  wanted").' 
The  Famine  might  be  hinted  at  and  our  liberality. 
If  you  discuss  this  topic  I  think  you'll  get  something. 

''  3.  John  Bright,  fishing,  and  in  a  rage  at  being  dis- 
turbed with  a  telegram  about  the  House  of  Lords. 
'  Verily  a  right  thing  to  protest,  verily  a  right  thing  to 
protest,  and  now  be  off  with  you,  or  Fll  lose  that 
infuriated  fish.'     (You  saw  what  he  said.) 

''  4.  Gladstone,  invited  by  a  democrat  or  cad-radical 
to  pitch  into  the  House  of  Lords  (into  a  nobleman), 
suggests  to  his  friend  that  on  the  whole  it  might  be  as 
well  to  wait,  as  the  lord  has  some  merits  and  many 
friends.     (See  his  letter  to  the  fellows  at  Leeds.) 

''  5.  You  have  the  Ayrton  notions,  sent  last  week. 

'^  6.  If  you  can't  make  anything  out  of  them,  and 
nothing  else  occurs  to  the  Council,  you  had  better 
read  the  enclosed  letter  from  a  correspondent. 

"  This  being  only  a  business  letter,  I  add  no  more, 
except  that  I  shall  raise  my  glass  to  you  all,  with  best 
wishes,  about  7.30  Wednesday. 

'*  Ever  yours,  and  all  of  you,* 

''S.  B." 

Ditto  to  Ditto. 

"  Pump  Room, 
"  Harrogate, 

''  August  30th,  71. 

"  My  dear  Leigh, 

''  The  above  is  the  Temple  of  Health,  in  which  at 
8.15  every  morning  yours  truly  sacrifices  himself,  by 

*  M.  Thiers  was  chosen  as  the  victim.  He  was  for  ever  losing  his 
temper  in  the  National  Assembly  and  threatening  to  resign.  The 
"  cut  "  was  entitled  "  Hobson's  Choice,"  and  Gladstone  was  put 
into  the  same  boat  as  Thiers. 

"  M.  Th  .  .  rs.     *  He,  mon  ami  !    They  say  I  am  petulant,  but — ' 
"  Mr.  Gl .  dst .  ne.     *  Ah,  M.  le  President,  just  so  !     They  say 
Tm  irritable,  but — they  can't  get  on  without  us  J  *  '* 

479 


SHIRLEY   BROOKS 

taking  8  oz.  of  the  beastliest  filth  ever  exuded  by 
mother  earth.  Twenty  minutes  later,  he  does  the  feat 
again.  Then  he  comes  home,  abides  until  nature  has 
done  her  work,  and  then  he  eats  a  huge  breakfast.  On 
certain  days  he  puts  himself  into  a  sort  of  stone  cist, 
and  soaks  for  12  minutes  in  sulphur  water  at  98  degrees. 
He  thinks  it  is  doing  him  good,  but  it  is  too  soon  to 
know.  That  the  air,  quiet,  and  wholesome  food  and 
early  hours  must  do  him  good  seems  indubitable.  The 
society  is  very  cheerful,  and  you  will  be  pleased  to 
know  that  Beethoven  and  Mendelssohn  are  heard,  the 
pianoforte  being  struck  by  no  unskilful  hands,  in  the 
drawing-rooms  in  the  evening.  We  do  not  dress  much 
— the  lounging  coat  is  exchanged  for  the  decorous 
surtout,  that  is  all.  The  ladies  pity  our  invalided 
condition,  and  do  their  best  to  amuse  us. 

*'  I  have  made  an  excursion  to  Fountains  Abbey, 
the  finest  thing  I  ever  saw.  O  them  monks,  didn't 
they  know  how  to  pitch  their  tents  'mid  woods  and 
by  waters  ?  And  here  they  have  reared  a  pile  worthy 
the  scene — the  tower,  in  perfect  preservation,  is  noble, 
and  the  nave  and  transepts  (Richard  the  First,  about) 
are  great.  Should  you  be  surprised  to  hear  that 
excursionists  from  Leeds,  etc..  Dance  therein  to  a  fiddle  ? 
However,  when  we  were  there  all  was  silent  as  the  blue 
sky,  save  for  the  swallows. 

'*  There  are  wealthy  Colonels  here,  from  India,  with 
high-stepping  horses  of  their  own,  and  they  are  very 
kind  in  taking  me  for  drives.  The  country  is  very  fine, 
in  places,  and  the  bold  moors  suggest  wholesomeness. 
You  would  like  them  better  than  even  Richmond  Park 
— ^indeed,  you  would  like  this  life,  for  it  is  do-as-you- 
like,  with  welcome  from  a  very  nice  set  of  people,  if  you 
happen  to  like  to  join  them,  but  you  need  not.  There 
are  hotels  here  for  fast  people,  but  our  aristocratic 
'  Marquis  of  Granby  *  knows  not  the  ways  of  such. 

480 


WHO   WAS   THE   FIRST   "PUNCH"    EDITOR? 

"  This  is   a  scribble   of  gossip.     I   wrote   you   on 

business  yesterday.     I   shall   hear   from   you  in   the 

morning.     May  be  Ancutt*  will  not  get  '  pars.*  from 

me  till  Friday  morning,  but  that  will  be  in  good  time. 

'*  Hoping  you  are  going  to  enjoy  your  dinner, 

**  Ever  yours, 

"S.  B. 

"  We  were  rather  over  Punched  this  week,  having 
his  effigy  5  times,  but  it  does  not  matter,  in  fact  perhaps 
it  looks  '  hoHday.'  " 

This  is  no  place  to  discuss  the  genesis  of  Punch  nor 
to  enter  into  the  controversy  which  has  raged  round 
the  subject  of  the  first  editorship  of  that  journal. 
Besides  which,  the  whole  matter  has  been  exhaustively 
dealt  with  in  Mr.  M.  H.  Spielmann's  ''  History.'*  At 
the  same  time,  the  following  note  sent  to  Percival  Leigh 
about  this  time  is  of  interest,  supporting  as  it  does  in 
various  details  the  conclusions  to  which  Mr.  Spielmann, 
as  I  know  after  very  careful  consideration,  inevitably 
came. 

S.  B.  TO  Percival  Leigh. 

"  This  is  merely  a  Punch  History  matter.  I  found 
in  Notes  and  Queries  that  somebody  had  described 
A.  Beckett  as  at  one  time  Editor  of  Punch.  I  wrote, 
a  month  ago,  a  letter  doing  ample  justice  to  dear  old 
Gil,  but  asserting  positively  that  M.  L.  had  always 
been  sole  Editor.  This  week  a  man  sends  the  letter 
I  enclose.  I  shall  answer  it  the  week  after  this. 
Meantime  can  you  tell  me  what  was  the  book  he 
mentions,  and  who  wrote  it  ?  I  suppose  all,  or  several, 
to  have  contributed,  and  dear  M.  L.*s  good-natured 

*  The  printer. 

481 

32— (2297) 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

way  of  doing  things  to  have  let  him  call  them  all 
Editors.  But  if  it  was  only  his  and  Henry  May  hew' s 
(not  likely),  the  case  is  somewhat  altered.  He  always 
said  that  he  alone  was  the  Editor  always.  You  know 
whether  you,  a  much  older  Punch  man  than  anyone 
else  now,  looked  in  the  slightest  degree  to  anybody  else 
for  Editorship.  Maybe  you  would  not  mind  saying 
this  in  N.  &  Q.,  but  of  this  hereafter.  I  want  to  know 
whether  you  have  any  recollections  as  to  the  '  ShiUing's 
Worth  of  Nonsense.' 

''  This  is  a  horrid  scrawl,  but  I  have  had  a  very  long 
walk,  and  my  hands  are  full  of  the  vital  fluid.  A 
glorious  day  for  walking  over  *  our  '  moors  ;  also  I  went 
to  church,  for  three  minutes." 

"  Sept.  2nd. 

''  Gave  '  Aspen  Court '  to  Miss  Hicks.  Her  father 
told  me  that  Sir  Francis  Doyle,  Professor  of  Poetry, 
told  him  that  Browning  told  him  that  the  '  Good  News  '* 
did  not  refer  to  any  historical  event,  but  that  he  wrote 
it  on  board  a  vessel,  happening  to  feel  that  '  Pegasus 
wanted  a  canter.'     A  good  galop  he  got." 

S.  B.  TO  Percival  Leigh. 

"  Granby  Hotel, 
"  Harrogate, 
"  Sunday,  Sept.  3rd,  71. 

"  My  dear  Leigh, 

'*  '  Yours  to  hand ' — also  Punch.  The  number 
is  all  right,  thanks  to  you.  The  title  of  the  cut  I  like.f 
It  is  not  too  severe.  In  fact,  the  severity  is  against 
the  Opposition,  who  have  no  horse  to  run  against 

*  "  How  they  Brought  the  Good  News  from  Ghent  to  Aix." 
t  "  Hobson's  Choice,"  mentioned  in  the  note  to  letter  of  August 
29th. 

482 


HARROGATE  AND  OLD  HARRY 

Gladstone.  I  have  said  this  to  Fred.  Quite  right  not 
to  alter  the  making  up  for  T.  T.'s  verses  ;  he  explained 
to  me  why  he  was  late,  and  that  Mrs.  Taylor  had 
copied  the  poem,  to  prevent  mistakes,  but  noon  on 
Saturday  would  have  been  late  under  (I  mean  in)  any 
circumstances.     I  will  write  to  him,  however. 

**  Sufficient  for  the  day  is  the  cut  thereof,  but  I  think 
the  next  should  bear  upon  the  Army  and  Navy  bung- 
lings.  F.  C.  B.'s  par.  is  particularly  to  the  point,  and 
taken  with  mine,  will  show  you  what  I  think  we  might 
try  to  express.  Think  this  over,  will  you  ?  I  will  send 
any  idea  that  may  occur.  I  am  in  a  military  circle 
here,  in  the  smoke  room,  and  a  sensible  one,  and  I  hear 
the  oddest  things  of  jobbing  and  blundering.  There 
was  a  contract  for  bridles  and  bits  for  mules  during  the 
Crimean  war,  and  when  an  officer  who  had  seen  mule 
service  represented  to  the  authorities  that  a  mule 
never  had  such  a  thing  as  a  bit  in  his  mouth,  he  was 
almost  kicked.  This  is  only  one  of  heaps  of  things  of 
the  sort. 

''  I  scribe  to  you  in  our  big  drawing-room  :  the  hotel 
is  gone  to  church,  with  a  deduction  in  favour  of  (or 
against)  men  who  have  retired  to  their  own  rooms  to 
pretend  to  be  at  their  devotions. 

**  There  is  a  Harrogate  rhyme,  it  seems — something 
this  way  : 

"  *  When  Old  Harry  flew  over  the  Harrogate  Wells, 
His  attention  was  drawn  to  the  mixture  of  smells — 
Says  he,  *  I  don't  know  where  I've  happened  to  roam. 
But  I'm  sure,  by  the  scent,  that  I'm  not  far  from  home.* 

It  is  no  exaggeration,  i.e.,  in  the  spring  district,  about 
a  mile  from  here.  You'd  think  it  was  the  site  of  the 
Cities  of  the  Plain.  But  Lot's  wife  has  also  been 
dissolved  in  the  waters,  which  make  one  as  thirsty  as 
Tantalus.     A  very  sensible  doctor  here,  who  insists 

483 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

on  a  certain  moderation  of  diet,  but  d — d  '  drugs/  as 
he  profanely  calls  them.  The  symptoms  you  suggested 
have  come,  and  he  says  *  All  right,  shows  the  sulphur 
is  taking  hold/  .  .  . 

'*  Quite  right  about  the  Alexandra* — the  advertising 
of  this.  Ozokerit,  and  other  things  try  to  ear- wig  the 
publisher,  and  suggest  puffs  in  exchange  for  '  ads/, 
but  we  leave  that  to  Fun  and  Judy.  You  can  easily 
evade  such  beggars,  even  if  you  adopt  the  boatswain's 
reading  of  evasion. 

"  Ever  yours  faithfully, 

"S.  B." 

Ditto  to  Ditto. 

"  Granby,  Harrogate, 

"  Sept,  5th,  71. 


{( 


My  dear  Professor. 


"  To  gain  the  extra  post,  I  will  direct  the  letter 
with  any  suggestions  for  L.  C.f  to  you  to  the  *  Bedford.' 
This  will  save  you  the  trouble  of  going  or  sending  to 
Bouverie  Street.  I  would  have  done  so  last  week, 
had  I  known  of  your  change  of  rendezvoo. 

*'  I  have  usually  abstained  from  Tichborne,  but  on 
the  whole  I  am  glad  the  little  par.  appeared,  for  his 
friends  stick  pars,  in  his  favour  into  the  country  papers, 
and  I  had  thought  of  sending  up  a  '  quip  modest,'  or  so. 

*  "  The  Alexandra  Palace  and  Muswell  Hill  Estate  Management 
Co.,"  which  was  advertising  itself  by  public  lectures  and  apparently 
other  ways.  But  it  was  to  no  purpose,  for  its  affairs  were  wound  up 
five  months  later.  It  would  be  well  if  journals,  which  assume  a  very 
high  moral  attitude  in  these  days,  would  follow  Punch's  example 
and  refuse  to  log-roll  their  advertisers  by  puffs  indirect. 

t  Large  Cut. 

484 


'^I  SHOULD  JUST  LIKE  TO  SEE  THE  MAN^' 

'*  Tenniel  will  no  doubt  let  you  know  of  his  where- 
abouts in  the  country,  in  case  of  any  tremendous  event 
happening,  but  this  is  singularly  unlikely. 

''  If  you  send  me  a  line  from  the  ^  Bedford '  to  say  what 
you  decide  on  (the  soberest  of  you  can  write  it)  and  let 
the  '  Bedford '  post  it  that  night,  I  shaU  get  it  about  4  on 
Thursday.  ... 

**  Ever  yours, 

"S.  B. 
"  P.  L.,  Esq." 

S.  B.  TO  George  du  Maurier. 

"  Granby  Hotel, 

"  Harrogate. 
"  Friday,  Sept.  8th,  71. 

"  My  dear  Kickey, 

"  I  hear  from  Fred  that  you  are  established. 
I  hope  you  have  warm  weather — ours  is  of  the  kind 
Jerrold  called  embracing.  My  folks  are  in  Paris,  Hotel 
of  New  York  and  Londres,  Place  du  Havre,  and  say 
they  are  comfortable,  but  they  go  on  to  Heidelburg  at 
once,  I  beheve. 

*'  The  above  edifice  holds  me  every  morning  at  8.10, 
when  I  drink  one  pint  of  sulphur  ;  J  of  an  hour  later, 
another — and  being  thus  diabolically  refreshed,  I  come 
home  to  a  huge  breakfast.  Coming  out  of  the  above 
temple  this  morning,  I  was  talking  to  a  very  pretty 
girl ;  somehow  we  spoke  of  obedience  to  husbands. 
'  I  should  like  to  see  the  man  whom  I  would  obey,'  she 
said,  with  a  graceful  toss  of  the  head.  '  I  believe  that 
you  would  very  much  like  to  see  him/  I  said,  with  my 
usual,  etc.  She  laughed.  I  don't  know  whether  there 
is  anything  in  the  wit  that  would  expand  into  a  cut, — 
an  old  maid  might  make  the  reply,  but  you  have  it  as 
it  happened,  or  it  might  be  that  young  —  wished  he 

485 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

dared  say,  '  You  see  him,  adored  one/     No,  this  spoils 
it.* 

'*  Another  fact.  At  some  country  place  one  of  two 
young  ladies,  in  the  shop  that  is  the  post-ofhce,  said  to 
the  post-mistress,  '  How  late  you  sent  out  the  letters 

this  morning,  Mrs.  .'     '  Yes,  Miss,  but  you  see  I 

had  such  a  lot  of  all  these  post  cards  to  read'     I  believe 
she  thought  this  one  part  of  her  duty. 

"  Fred  joins  you,  I  believe.  Do  not  go  on  the  scoop 
too  much.  But  I  think  Folkestone  affords  no  great 
opportunities  for  frantic  dissipation.  I  went  to  meet 
a  young  lady  coming  over  from  France,  and  I  knew  she 
was  good-looking,  but  when  I  beheld  her,  hagged  and 
wretched  from  the  sea,  I  thought  that  if  I  had  been 
engaged  to  her,  I  should  have  tried  to  back  out,  it  was 
a  revelation  of  what  she  would  be  ten  years  later. 

*'  There  goes  the  bell  for  lunch.  I  don't  want  none, 
but  people  think  you  are  ill  if  you  are  not  always 
eating,  so  I  shall  go  and  have  some  potted  salmon. 
It  is  a  '  basis  for  a  smoke.* 

''  Kindest  regards  to  Mrs.  du  Maurier  from 

''  Yours  ever, 

''S,  Br 

"  Sept.  22nd. 

'*  At  dinner.  Rector  Gordon  not  having  come  in  time 
to  say  grace,  it  was  suggested  to  another  parson,  a 
Mr.  H.,  better  known  as  ^  Cackles,'  to  do  so,  but  he 
refused,  saying,  he  would  not  *  play  second  fiddle.' 
A  sweet  type  of  divine." 

*  Du  Maurier  did  use  the  joke  a  month  later. 

**  Miss  Minerva  Bristhngton  (fiercely),  '  Honour  and  obey,  indeed  ! 
Ha  !  Ha  !  I  should  just  hke  to  see  a  man  ask  me  to  ''  honour  and 
obey  *  him." 

"  (*  Vve  no  doubt  you'd  like  to  see  him  very  much  indeed*  thought 
the  two  Miss  Marigolds,  but  they  didn't  say  so)." 

486 


''NOT  MUCH  BORED  ^' 
S.  B.  TO  Mrs.  F.  Romer  (Mrs.  Jopling  Rowe). 

"  September  13th,  1871. 

*'  My  dear  Louise, 

*'  Your  kind  note  (no  date)  has  followed  me  here, 
and  '  here '  will,  I  suppose,  be  my  address  for  some 
time,  as  I  find  air,  waters,  and  idleness  are  agreeing 
with  me  '  uncommon.*  I  am  so  glad  that  you  enjoyed 
your  sojourn  in  Wales,  and  that  you  can  now  address 
yourself  to  work,  more  lightly  '  handicapped  *  than 
before.  (Excuse  the  racing  word,  but  I  am  in 
Yorkshire,  which  is  this  day  simply  mad  over  the 
St.  Leger.)  I  suppose  that  you  do  not  know  this  place. 
It  is  not  a  place.  There  are  houses  on  a  moor,  and 
springs  of  more  or  less  abominableness  everywhere. 
That  is  High  Harrogate,  where  I  am.  There  is  a  sort 
of  town  called  New  Harrogate,  which  has  its  shops 
and  hotels  and  fireworks,  etc.,  but  we  only  '  condescend ' 
to  this  when  we  want  to  shop,  or  to  get  at  the  worst 
sulphur  of  all.  But  everywhere  are  beautiful  districts 
to  go  to  :  ruins,  rocks,  wells,  and  the  rest,  and  we  make 
excursions  in  carriages,  and  lunch,  and  flirt  (that  is, 
the  younger  ones  do)  and  agree  that  we  are  enjoying 
ourselves.  A  huge  drawing-room  in  the  evening — 
music,  cards,  chess,  backgammon,  scandal,  all  the 
luxuries  of  the  season.  This  is  the  old  aristocratic 
hotel,  the  county  folks,  and  the  other  magnates  come 
here,  and  we  have  heiresses  and  some  beauty.  We  sit 
down  to  a  table  d'hote ,  from  60  to  70.  I  am  not  much 
bored.  My  family  is  at  Heidelburg,  I  hope,  that  is, 
they  were  to  leave  Strasburg  on  Monday  for  the  other 
place,  and  they  complain  of  the  heat.  We  have  no  such 
complaint  here,  and  I  have  just  been  feeding  the 
smoking-room  fire  with  the  Punch  correspondence. 

*'  I  hope  you'll  get  this  note,  but  I  have  forgotten 
the  right  district  in  which  Coleherne  Terrace  is,  but 
I  know  it  is  in  the  Directory. 

487 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

"  Would  you  could  see  Fountains  Abbey.  It  is  the 
most  glorious  thing  I  ever  saw  of  its  kind.  Hardly  a 
ruin,  the  great  tower  is  perfect  and  so  is  much  of  the 
church.  And  in  such  a  scene  !  Yes,  I  have  not  seen 
Tintern,  but  I  think  Fountains  must  be  the  sight  of 
England.  We  have,  or  rather  the  plebeians  in  Low 
Harrogate  have,  a  picture  exhibition — I  suppose  the 
works  are  genuine — I  send  the  list,  I  must  look  in. 
Mr.  Frith  was  born  somewhere  here,  and  his  name 
is  mentioned  with  acclaim  in  these  parts. 

''  There  goes  the  lunch-bell.  I  will  let  you  off  with 
this  amount  of  scrawl,  and  if  you  want  any  more,  write 
again.  If  you  go  to  the  '  Bedford,'  and  care  to  say  you 
have  heard,  remember  me  very  kindly  to  Helen,  who  is, 
I  suppose,  the  lady  in  charge  still. 

'*  Ever  yours  affectionately, 

''  Shirley  Brooks. 
"  Mrs.  L.  Romer.'' 

The  reference  to  Mr.  Frith  in  the  above  letter  tempts 
me  to  purloin  (by  permission)  another  page  from  his 
delightful  *'  Reminiscences.''  On  the  walls  of  '*  The 
Granby  "  hung,  and  I  beheve  still  hang,  some  of  the 
artist's  earhest  efforts,  presented  by  him  to  Miss 
Baynes,  the  landlady,  many  years  ago.  Shirley, 
always  ready  to  sparkle  outside  as  weU  as  inside  the 
pages  of  Punchy  seizes  the  opportunity  of  playing  a  joke 
and  writes  a  letter  purporting  to  come  from  Miss  Baynes 
herself. 

S.  B.  (writing  as  Miss  Baynes)  to  Mr.  Frith,  R.A. 
"  Dear  Mr.  Frith, 

*'  Not  being  well  able  to  write,  I  use  the  pen  of  our 
mutual  friend,  Mr.  S.  Brooks,  who  has  kindly  consented 

488 


A  BOGUS  LETTER 

to  convey  to  you  a  request  which  I  have  hardly  the 
courage  to  make.  But  your  kindness  in  the  matter 
of  your  early  pictures  emboldens  me  to  address  you. 

*'  The  local  authorities  have  decided  that  all  the 
hotels  in  Harrogate  shall  have  signs,  and  against  this 
arbitrary  rule  we  have  petitioned  in  vain.  The 
enclosed  paragraph  shows  you  our  lamentable  case. 

''  Would  you  be  so  kind  as  to  paint  me  a  sign  for  the 
'  Granby  '  ?  I  should  take  it  very  well  of  you.  I  have 
heard  from  a  friend  of  yours  that  you  can  do  this  sort 
of  thing  very  well,  and  if  you  have  any  difficulty  I  am 
sure  that  your  friend  Mr.  E.  M.  Ward,  R.A.,  would 
assist  you  with  advice  and  example.  I  leave  the 
subject  to  yourself,  but  I  need  hardly  say  that  it  must 
not  be  at  all^objectionable  in  a  moral  point  of  view,  as 
the  visitors  to  the  '  Granby '  are  very  high-toned  about 
virtue  and  grub.  If  you  did  not  mind  (and  I  am  aware 
that  I  may  offend  your  modesty,  which  is  one  of  your 
most  pleasing  characteristics)  painting  your  own  head 
for  the  sign,  I  should  be  very  glad,  and  it  would  be  a  good 
advertisement  for  you  ;  but  if  you  prefer  painting  any 
other  Guy,  I  shall  be  equally  thankful.  Terms  shall 
not  separate  us,  and  if  you  would  hke  to  come  and 
reside  here  for  a  fortnight,  as  soon  as  the  respectable 
people  are  gone,  you  shall  be  treated  as  one  of  the 
family.  Then  you  could  hang  the  picture  yourself, 
and  as  you  have  been  lately  on  the  Hanging  Committee 
I  shall  feel  much  confidence  in  you. 

''  My  nieces  send  their  duty.  They  wish  the  sign 
to  be  the  *  Queen  Charlotte,'  in  honour  of  the  elder  ; 
but  you  may  not  Hke  this,  for  though  her  features  are 
very  charming,  they  are  not  what  you  would  call 
Academical.  But,  if  you  come  down,  you  can  settle 
this  with  her. 

'*  I  must  not  trespass  longer  on  your  patience,  or 
on  that  of  Mr.  Brooks,  who  is  restless  to  get  away  and 

489 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

smoke.  He  is  a  delightful  man,  and  I  am  glad  that 
you  now  choose  such  excellent  companions.  It  was 
not  always  so  ;  but  we  need  not  revert  to  the  follies 
of  youth — we  have  all  been  young. 

''  I  should  like  this  colour*  to  be  predominant  in  the 
picture  I  ask  for  ;   and  I  am,  dear  Mr.  Frith, 

''  Yours  faithfully  and  sincerely, 

''  Miss  Baynes.'' 

S.  B.  TO  Percival  Leigh. 

"  J  ^0  6  p.m. 

"  My  dear  Professor, 

''  To-day,  for  the  first  time  in  my  medical  holiday, 
I  don't  send  you  anything.  I  suppose  the  sulphur  took 
to  curing  me  too  fast,  but  to-day  just  when  I  was  going 
to  write  for  you,  came  a  kaleidoscopic  dance  of  atoms, 
and  all  I  could  do  was  to  shut  my  eyes,  and  go  to  sleep. 
I  have  awaked  just  before  post-time,  and  merely  send 
a  line  to  say  so  ;  of  course,  I  will  telegraph  freely 
should  there  be  need,  which  I  dare  say  there  won't  be. 

''  Ever, 


''  S.  B.'' 


S.  B.  TO  W.  H.  Bradbury. 

"  Granby, 

"  Harrogate, 

"2ethSept.,  1871. 

"  My  dear  William, 

'*  The  doctor,  you  will  be  glad  to  know,  I  know, 
makes  a  very  favourable  report  of  me,  and  declares 
I  shall  be  *  set  up.'  He  advises  me  to  make  about 
another  fortnight  and  *  clench  the  nail.'  I  feel  so  much 
better  that  I  want  to  get  back  to  work,  but  it  may  be 

*  The  colour  that  was  to  be  "  predominant  in  the  picture  "  was 
indicated  by  a  piece  of  bright  red  paper,  attached  to  the  letter. 

490 


F.S.A. 

wiser  to  lay  in  a  good  stock  of  health.  I  feel  quite 
'  another  party/  But  I  shall  send  up  copy  to  Leigh, 
indeed  I  have  done  this  more  or  less,  all  the  time,  for 
I  feel,  as  I  have  often  told  you,  that  it  is  the  brief 
epigrammatic  bits  that  we  don't  get.  Our  horses 
make  excellent  running,  but  they  don't  take  fences — to 
talk  Yorkshire.  And  I  have  a  notion  for  a  little  series 
of  my  own,  when  F.  C.  B.  has  done.  In  fact,  I  have 
been  able,  in  leisure,  to  think  over  a  deal. 
*  *  *  ♦ 

*'  I  asked  a  young  lady  from  Cambridgeshire — we 
were  talking  of  local  beliefs,  etc. — whether  they  have 
any  particular  superstition  in  her  county.  *  Well — no 
— I  don't  know.     We  go  to  church.'* 

**  Ever  yours  faithfully, 

"  Shirley  Brooks. 
"  W.  H.  Bradbury,  Esq." 

On  Oct.  3rd  he  makes  the  entry  in  his  diary  : — 

*'  Ouvryf,  at  my  wish,  took  down  particulars,  with 
a  view  to  my  joining  the  Antiquaries.  One  may  as 
well  have  some  initials  to  one's  name." 

That  was  on  his  last  day  at  Harrogate. 

On  Oct.  4th  he  was  back  in  town  and  wrote  : — 

"  Thankful  to  be  in  London  again,  after  the  longest 
holiday  I  have  had  for  many  a  long  day." 

Then  came  the  inside  of  a  week  at  Folkestone,  and 
then  he  was  in  harness  once  more. 

*  This  seemed  to  please  Shirley,  for  he  repeats  it  in  a  letter  to 
Lady  Hardman. 

f  Frederick  Ouvry,  at  that  time  Secretary  and  afterwards 
President  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries.  Shirley  was  elected 
Fellow  in  the  following  January. 

491 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

S.  B.  TO  Mrs.  Frith. 

"  Bedford  Hotel, 
**  Co  VENT  Garden, 

''Oct  5th,  1871.   8.30 a.m. 

*'  My  dear  Mrs.  Frith, 

'*  Many  thanks  for  your  kind  invitation,  which 
I  received  on  arriving  last  night.  But  I  must  get  some 
work  done,  and  then  be  off  to  Folkestone,  or  I  shall  be 
sued  in  the  Divorce  Court.  We  return  next  Wednes- 
day, finally,  and  then  the  holidays  are  over.  As  I  left 
dear  old  Harrogate  yesterday  morning,  I  said,  in  the 
most  pensive  and  affecting  manner  : — 

"  '  One  long  last  sigh,  for  love  and  thee 
And  then  to  busy  life  again.' 

''  Love  means  sulphur,  but  that  wouldn't  come  into 
the  line.  I  am  sorry  to  hear  of  your  tribulations,  in 
trying  to  come  over. 

"  '  It  was  an  agony,  'tis  now  forgot.' 

'*  These  two  Byronic  quotations  before  breakfast 
you  will  believe  that  Yorkshire  has  done  me  good.'' 
''  Ever  yours  affectionately, 

"  Shirley  Brooks." 

S.  B.  TO  Mrs.  Frith. 

**  6  Kent  Terrace, 

"  Regent's  Park. 
'' Sunday,  Oct.  I5th,  1871. 

"  My  dear  Mrs.  Frith, 

'*  Many  thanks  for  the  very  kind  invitation  re- 
ceived last  night,  on  return  from  the  —  Gaiety,  so  called 
from  its  dulness,  at  present  at  least.  Very  sorry  am 
I  not  to  be  able  to  dine  with  you  on  Wednesday. 
But  I  cannot  put  off  the  P.  dinner  (at  which  I  must  be 
present)  for  we  are  engaged  to  dinner  on  Thursday. 

492 


YORKSHIREL  Y = LAVISHLY 

I  hope,  however,  to  see  Sissy*  and  her  baby  while 
they  are  in  town.  I  must  have  a  great  talk  with  you 
and  Frith  about  Yorkshire,  which  has  done  me  so  much 
good,  that  I  shall  always  think  well  of  it  (in  spite  of  the 
people),  and  I  hope  to  re-visit  it  very  soon,  that  is  in 
fine  weather. 

*'  Tell  Frith  that  his  friend  Miss  Baynes  sent  him  all 
sorts  of  kind  messages.  She  is  a  dear  funny  old  thing. 
When  I  said,  going  away,  that  I  hoped  to  see  her  again, 
she  jerked  out,  '  I  don't  know  then  whether  you  will 
or  not.'  The  way  they  try  (and  succeed)  to  make  one 
comfortable,  in  that  house,  is  delightful,  and  old 
fashioned  as  it  is,  I  like  it  a  hundred  times  better  than 
the  new  places,  where  you  are  only  No.  29,  like  a  convict 
in  prison.  Fish  is  the  weak  point,  all  else  is  whole- 
somely, lavishly,  Yorkshirely  done.  Pianoforte  in 
smoke-room,  made  by  manufacturer  to  the  '  Prince 
of  Wales,'  yes,  but  not  Bertie,  but  Georgie  the 
Gorgeous  !  I  made  some  of  the  girls  play  on  it — how 
they  screamed  !  But  of  this  more  when  we  meet. 
My  wife's  best  love  and  hopes  that  all  goes  on  better 
than  well  in  Hamilton  Terrace,  f 

"  Ever  yours  affectionately, 

''  Shirley  Brooks." 

On  October  30th  he  writes  what,  so  far  as  his  bio- 
grapher is  concerned,  is  perhaps  the  most  poignant 
sentence  in  the  whole  of  his  voluminous  writings  : — 

*'  Finished  indexing  diaries — have  all  now  done 
from  1850  to  '71,  and  this  will  help  me  much  in 
composing  the  autobiography  which  I  should  like  to 
leave.'' 

*  Mrs.  Panton. 
•  t  Where  lived   Mrs.   Oppenheim,  Mr.  Frith's  eldest  daughter. 
The  baby  of  1871  is  now  a  Captain  in  the  Bays. 

493 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

One  only  consolation  there  is  in  the  disappointment 
which  all  must  feel  that  he  was  not  spared  to  carry  out 
his  plan — the  consolation  that  it  can  hardly  be  contrary 
to  his  wishes  that  such  of  his  carefully  preserved  notes 
as  have  escaped  the  general  destruction  should  be 
given  to  the  public. 

"  Nov.  5th. 

*'  Fred  lends  me  Congreve,  Wycherley,  etc.  '  Love 
for  Love  *  was  revived  at  the  Gaiety  on  Saturday,  but 
seems  to  have  been  horribly,  but  necessarily  mutilated. 
Read  it,  and  'The  Way  of  the  World.'  Madame 
Vestris  once  suggested  to  me  that  it  would  be  a  fine 
thing  to  perform  one  of  the  old  comedies  just  as 
written,  but  then,  she  said,  we  must  have  no  fools  in  the 
house — meaning  that  the  thing  was  to  be  regarded 
artistically.'' 

"  Nov.  Sth. 

"  A  longish  bit  I  writ  in  Punch  about  V.  Hugo — 
'  Le  Dernier  Cri  '  in  the  Times.''* 
"  Nov.  9th. 

''  Very  plain  women,  mostly,  but  lots  of  diamonds — 
there  was  a  pair  of  white  shoulders  before  me,  however, 
which  were  pleasanter  to  look  at  than  most  things 
round,  and  this  owner  knew  it,  and  was  liberal.  (This 
entry  savours  of  levity,  but  I  have  just  been  writing 
an  imitation  of  Pepys.)" 

*  "  Le  Dernier  Cri  de  M.  Victor  Hugo,''  Punch,  Nov.  11th,  203,  is 
a  clever  skit  on  the  great  writer's  extravagance  of  thought  and 
diction.  "  They  are  gone,  those  Germans !  .  .  .  If  I  could  hate 
them  more  than  I  do,  it  is  because  they  have  not  dared  to  rob  us 
of  our  art  treasures.  Fools,  we  might  have  mourned  the  loss  of 
pictures  and  statues,  but  we  should  have  had  the  consolation  of 
feehng  that  they  were  gone  to  civilize  a  barbarous  race,  to  teach 
Germany  lessons  in  morality  and  humanity,  etc.,  etc." 

494 


"WOMAN   IN   WHITE" 

"  Nov.  10th. 

''  Did  a  '  Pepys  at  Guildhall '  for  Punch:' 
"  Nov.  22nd. 

''  Suggested  cut,  Gladstone  as  a  Scotsman,  he  having 
written  that  he  is  ever  happy  to  appear  in  that 
character."* 

"  Nov.  23rd. 

''  The  Prince  of  Wales  is  iU  at  Sandringham,  typhoid 
fever,  but  it  is  stated  that  though  the  attack  is  severe, 
there  is  no  danger.  Physicians  summoned.  Just  10 
years  since  his  father  d.  of  something  of  the  same  kind. 
I  remember  Pater  came  over  to  tell  me,  and  I  wrote 
verses  in  P.  which  were  said  to  have  gratified  the 
Queen." 

"  Nov.  24th. 

''  With  E.  to  Olympic,  to  see  the  '  Woman  in  White.' 
Pit  box,  O.P.  hghts  in  the  way.  Disappointed,  of 
course.  The  story  is  well  told,  but  it  is  not  interesting 
on  the  stage,  though  very  interesting  in  the  book. 
Reasonably  well  acted — Viningf  much  better  than 
I  expected.  Provincial  accents  among  the  company, 
which  ought  not  to  be  in  a  London  theatre." 
"  Nov.  25th. 

"  Dies  donorum.  For  the  Rev.  F.  G.  Wood  sent  me 
his  handsome  '  Insects  at  Home,'  a  joy  for  Cecil. 
Smiles  sent  two  books,  which  Rego  wiU  like.  Mrs. 
Marriette,  our  neighbour,  sent  E.  some  magnificent 
perch.     And   last   and   most   glorious   of   all,   Sheriff 

*  Gladstone's  secretary  had  written,  "  Mr.  Gladstone  is  ever 
happy  to  appear  in  the  character  of  a  Scotsman."  In  the  cartoon 
he  is  represented  dancing  between  two  swords  labelled 
"  Radicalism,"  "  Toryism," 

"  And  he'll  dance  a  long  time,  to  ourselves  as  it  seems, 
While  he  balances  wisely  between  the  Extrem^^." 
t  G.  J.  Vining,  who  acted  Count  Fosco. 

495 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

Bennett*  sent  me  a  beautiful  watch,  keyless,  with 
S.  B.  enamelled  thereon  !  AstrcBa  Redux.  Editing  as 
usual.  W.  H.  B.  and  Fred  out  for  a  short  time,  but 
he  is  under  the  rigid  Duplex,  Dined  alone,  '  Bedford/ 
Wrote  Rego.  Then  to  Lyceum,  box  5.  E.  there  and 
C.  Dickens,  f  to  whom  in  his  need  she  had  luckily  a  seat 
to  offer.  First  night  of  '  The  Bells,'  a  drama  from 
M.  M.  Erckmann-Chatrian.  It  is  fantastic  and  poetic. 
A  dream  of  a  trial,  and  the  truth  extorted  by  mesmer- 
ism, is  a  bold  and  good  idea.  A  Kean  is  wanted  for 
the  one  part,  but  Irving  did  his  best.  We  saw  some 
'  Pickwick,*  but  it  is  necessarily  flat.  In  the  box  E. 
told  me  of  the  watch.  There  is  no  reason  why  I  should 
not  accept  it,  and  Bennett's  note  (which  preserve) 
is  in  very  good  taste.  I  may  as  well  note  here  that 
I  replied  next  day,  in  a  letter  which  may  be  read  here- 
after and  will  show  how  unexpected  was  such  a 
memorial.  How  many  watches  have  I  had  ?  First,  the 
old  gold  one,  C.  W.  B.  But  I  forget  its  successor 
till  I  came  to  one  I  had  of  Joel  Ellis.  Then  the  silver 
one,  now  Rego's.  Then  the  gold  one  I  now  wear  of 
Jones's  (which  has  varied  only  6  minutes  in  6  months), 
now  this  of  the  Sheriff's.  There  ought  to  be  many 
presentations  to  come,  for  I  have  obliged  hundreds  of 
people.     We'll  see." 

"  Nov.  29th. 

''  Good  fun.  I  put  in  Punch  this  week  a  flaming 
mock-puff  of  '  P.  Book.' J  It  is  in  the  Times  to-day. 
It  ought  to  do  good  ;  anyhow,  as  I  say,  it  is  fun." 

"  Dec.  1st. 

*'  Article  for  Punch,  '  Gladstone's  Religions.'     (That 

♦  (Sir)  John  Bennett. 

t  Junior. 

J  "  Punch's  Review  of  '  Punch's  Pocket-Book,'  "  Dec.  2nd,  p.  236. 

496 


OBJECTIONABLE  STAGE-DANCING 

fool  Whalley  keeps  on  asking  him  whether  he  is  a  secret 
Papist.)''  * 

"  Dec.  4th. 

*'  Forster's  1st  vol.  of  Dickens's  life  just  out.  It  was 
new  to  me,  as  it  will  be  to  most,  that  C.  D.  as  a  boy  } 
of  10  stuck  labels  on  blacking-bottles,  and  was  ill-fed — 
there  is  a  very  touching  bit  of  autobiography,  saying 
how  he  tried  to  make  his  poor  little  money  last  all 
the  week,  by  dividing  it  into  parcels.  E.  thinks  the 
publication  will  annoy  the  family.  However,  D.  left 
these  details  for  publication." 

"  Dec.  5th. 

*' Went  to  the '  Garrick'  at  3,  and  stayed  there,  except 
that  I  went  in  to  Macmillan's,  who  gave  me  some  books, 
and  asked  me  to  d.  at  G.,  where  he  had  a  party,  but 
as  Sir  C.  Dilke,  who  has  been  spouting  republicanism, 
was  to  be  one,  I  would  not  go,  hating  to  dine  with  a 
man,  and  abuse  him  in  print,  as  I  must  do. 

♦  ♦  ♦  4c 

*'  Emily  had  gone  with  Mrs.  Y.  to  the  Philharmonic, 
Islington,  expecting  to  see  a  pretty  opera,  which  they 
had,  and  to  have  a  box,  which  they  had  not,  and  this 
vexed  me  rather,  as  the  stalls  there  are  hardly  places 
for  her,  and  moreover  there  was  dancing  which 
*  shocked '  her — the  abomination  for  which  the 
Alhambra  was  refused  a  license.     I  will  pitch  into  this.*' 

"  Dec.  1th. 

*'  Collins    and    Lewes f    stayed    till    12.     Forster's      | 

*  Whalley  had  written  to  Gladstone  asking  whether  he  had 
secretly  become  a  Romanist.  Gladstone  had  replied  that  Whalley 
had  asked  him  in  a  roundabout  way  whether  he  was  "  the  basest 
creature  in  the  kingdom."  For  Shirley's  article,  vide  Punch,  Dec. 
9th,  p.  245. 

f  Wilkie  CoUins  and  George  Henry  Lewes. 

497 

33— (2297) 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

'  Dickens '  talked  of — they  call  it  '  Life  of  J.  F.  with 
notices  of  C.  D/  '' 
"  Dec.  8th. 

"  Into  town,  looking  for  an  easy  day  of  final  revision 
of  the  Almanac,  and  found  that  Ancutt  had  mis- 
calculated his  copy,  and  a  great  deal  more  was  wanted. 
This,  of  course,  I  had  to  supply.  Luckily,  I  had  given 
myself  good  wine  overnight,  or  a  column  and  more 
of  faceticB  might  not  easily  have  been  managed.  Rather 
a  drag,  as  it  was,  but  I  have  an  odd  habit  of  concocting 
nonsense.  Sent  away  nearly  all  the  pages  to  the 
foundry,  for  electrotyping,  and  arranged  that  the  last 
was  to  be  sent  up  to  me.  Home  to  d.  and  expected  it, 
when  came  a  note  instead,  saying  that  all  *  fitted,'  and 
Ancutt  had  sent  on  the  page  to  the  foundry.  I  was 
in  the  utmost  rage,  which  was  not  very  useful.'* 
''  Dec.  9lh. 

''  Wrote  for  P.  a  paragraph  about  the  Prince,* 
which  will  do  should  he  survive,  but  if,  poor  fellow,  he 
does  not,  and  I  hear  on  Monday  morning,  we  issue 
a  second  edition  with  a  different  record.  I  trust  I  shall 
not  have  to  do  it.*' 
"  Dec.  10th. 

"  Observer — no  change.  E.  to  church,  telegram  read 
by  Haweis.  The  impression  is  that  the  doctors  are 
just  keeping  him  alive.  Fred  was  announced.  I 
thought  he  might  be  come  on  a  Sunday  to  tell  me  the 
Prince  was  dead,  just  as  dear  old  Pater,  Fred's  father, 

*  The  Prince  (our  present  gracious  and  beloved  Sovereign)  lay 
between  life  and  death  from  Dec.  6th  to  Dec.  13th.  "  The  deep 
anxiety,"  wrote  Shirley  Brooks,  "  at  this  moment  pervading  the 
country  forbids  our  going  to  press  without  a  word  of  record  that  we 
are  all  in  s)anpathy  with  the  Royal  Lady  who  now  watches  by  the 
bed-side  of  her  eldest  son,  and  that  a  nation's  desire  for  his 
recovery  is  in  earnestness  second  only  to  the  prayer  of  his  Mother 
and  of  his  Wife." 


ILLNESS  OF  THE  PRINCE  OF  WALES 

came  on  Sunday  to  tell  me  the  Prince's  father  was  dead, 

15th  Dec,  1861. 

♦  *  *  * 

"  This  Sunday  may  be  said  to  have  been  given  up, 
by  all,  to  the  Prince  of  Wales,  Sermons  everywhere. 
Telegraph  offices  open  at  unusual  hours.  Rush  every- 
where for  new  editions  of  the  papers.  Fred  came  to 
me  3  times,  first  as  above,  then  on  his  way  from  the 
club,  lastly  at  8  with  Amy.  Ancutt,  by  order,  came 
and  sat  in  the  drawing-room  1^  hour  waiting  in  case 
Fred  should  bring  news. 

:ic  4c  4c  3|e 

"  The  last  telegram  was  this,  which  a  boy  brought 
up.     It  was  in  Lloyd's  : — 

*' '  Sandringham, 

"  *  Sunday,  5  p.m. 

*' '  The   Prince   of   Wales   has   passed   an   unquiet 
afternoon,  with  a  return  of  the  more  urgent  symptoms. 
*' '  (Signed)    William  Jenner,  M.D. 
William  Gull,  M.D. 
John  Lowe,  M.D.' '' 

"Dec,  nth. 

*'  1.30  this  morning.  'Has  had  a  little  sleep — the 
symptoms  unchanged.'  Sorrowful  work  to  read  the 
papers  to-day.  A  beautiful,  because  simple,  note  from 
the  Princess  of  Wales  to  Onslow,  the  clergyman,  asking 
him  to  introduce  an  early  prayer  for  her  husband,  in 
which  she  could  join,  and  then  return  to  him.  11  a.m. 
I  receive  Daily  News  with  a  telegram  dated  8.15. 
'  A  restless  night,  with  a  further  recurrence  of  the 
graver  symptoms.  This  seems  '  fatal.'  Sent  a  few  words 
to  be  added,  if  time  allows,  to  the  P.  paragraph.  .  .  . 

"  The  Prince  held  on.  Hawes  went  out  in  the 
evening,  and  reported  the  5  p.m.  news  :  '  A  very 
restless  afternoon,  but  the  exhaustion  not  increased.'  " 

499 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

"  Dec.  \2th. 

*'  The  Prince  still  lives.  '  A  very  restless  night, 
without  signs  of  improvement/  Bloomer  sent  me 
a  later  one,  7.30  to-day.  The  above  was  1.30  a.m. 
and  said  *  is  passing,'  and  the  second  is  '  very  restless 
night,  almost  no  sleep.     Pulse  continues  fairly  good.'  '' 

"  Dec.  13th. 

*'  To-day  there  is  a  disposition  to  be  hopeful.  Last 
night  *  the  prostration  had  not  increased.'  To-day 
there  is  '  no  change.'  One  would  like  to  see  the  blue 
sky  through  the  clouds,  but  I  own  that  I  cannot,  yet. 

y^  ^r  *l*  I* 

''  Wrote  Leader  for  Illustrated,  to-day,  early.     (On 

the  Prince,  taking  the  idea  of  Hope,  but  before  the 

messenger  had  taken  it,  I  heard  that  the  last  news 

was  unfavourable.)     If  the  14th  (P.  Consort)  should 

end  all !  * 

*  *  *  ♦ 

''  Sambourne  d.  and  will  do  so  for  the  future.  He 
is  very  valuable  as  an  artist.  Almanac  d.,  but  we  don't 
publish  yet,  until  the  Prince's  crisis  shall  be  over. 
We  arranged  two  pictures,  to  use  that  which  shall  be 
fitting." 

"  Dec.  Uth. 

''  *  Continues  to  be  less  restless.'  Worn  out,  I  fear, 
but  it  may  be  better  news  than  it  seems. 

*l*  T*  *p  •!* 

'*  Tenniel  came  about  the  cuts,  being  bewildered, 
and  we  had  a  long  talk,  to  the  purpose.  It  is  the 
'  Suspense  'f  that  must  be  recorded  by  Punch.*' 


♦  The  Prince  Consort  died  of  the  same  disease  on  Dec.  14th,  1861. 
So  convinced  was  Shirley  that  recovery  was  hopeless  that  Punch 
was  all  ready  to  appear  with  black  borders. 

I  The  cartoon  represented  Britannia  waiting  with  bated  breath 
outside  the  door  of  the  sick  room. 

500 


"  SUSPENSE  " 

"  Dec.  \5th. 

''  We  believe  H.R.H.  is  out  of  danger.  Bloomer, 
who  has  very  civilly  been  sending  me  copies  of  the 
telegrams,  sent  this  which  I  found  on  coming  down, 
and  which  I  embodied  in  the  ^.A^.  leader.  '  A  quiet 
night,  debihty  great,  but  general  conditions  more 
favourable.'  His  Uving  through  the  14th  is  much,  for 
some  people.*' 
"  Dec.  16th. 

''  The  Prince's  danger  is  now  held  to  be  over.  The 
excitement  will  be  long  remembered.  Our  cut  will  be 
'  Suspense,'  and  will  record  this." 

S.  B.  TO  Mrs.  (now  Lady)  Hardman. 

"  6  Kent  Terrace, 

"  Regent's  Park, 

''Dec.  19th,  1871. 
"  Tuesday. 

"  My  dear  Mrs.  Hardman, 

*'  .  .  .  We  heartily  wish  that  you  had  settled  in 
town,  and  we  don't  despair  of  your  some  day  getting 
tired  of  bucolic  life  and  coming  back  into  civilization. 
When  I  was  little,  even  in  my  own  eyes,  I  had  some 
picture  cards  with  versicles  on  them.  One  I  recollect 
ran  thus — there  was  a  shepherd  pensively  beating  a 
sheep,  and,  I  suppose,  thinking  ambitiously,  for  he  was 
advised, 

"  *  Shepherd,  seek  not  wealth  or  power, 
Let  the  green  and  leafy  Bower 
And  the  hills  and  vales  and  trees. 
And  the  lowly  cottage  please. 

**  *  Can  the  gaudy  gilded  room 
Equal  fields  in  summer  bloom  ? 
Quit  not,  then,  thy  farm  and  fold, 
Nor  exchange  thy  peace  for  gold/ 

m 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

The  logic  of  the  last  verse  was  very  powerful,  but  it 
never  convinced  me.  You  still  like  the  lowly  cottage 
and  the  leafy  Bower  (what  is  a  bower  ?),  but  you  will 
be  wiser  some  day.  Why,  we  can  go  and  see  Toole 
whenever  we  like  !  True,  that  is  never,  but  the  moral's 
the  same. 

''Reginald  (altitude  7ft.  11  inches)  is  home  from 
Owens  College,  and  Cecil  (depressitude  2  ft.  1  inch) 
from  the  International.  They  are,  thanks,  very  well. 
But  the  religious  education  is  supposed  not  to  be  over 
until  the  Confirmation,  so  any  tracts,  etc.,  will  be 
thankfully  accepted. 

''  Ask  the  Beak*  to  look  at  a  paragraph  in  to- 
morrow's Punch  about  a  man  who  stole  magistrates. 

''  Mrs.  Brooks  sends  you  her  best  love,  and  says  that 
when  the  gentle  spring  arrayed  in  ethereal  mildness, 

shall  I  ^^^\  \  the  meadows  with  dehght,  she  hopes 

for  the  pleasure  of  visiting  you.  I  need  not  add  that 
she  never  expressed  herself  half  so  beautifully,  or  that 
the  language  is  that 

"  Of  yours  ever  sincerely, 

"  Shirley  Brooks." 

Always  on  the  look-out  for,  and  loving  to  share, 
comic  things  with  his  friends,  he  writes  to  the  same 
lady  on  the  same  day  : — 

**  There  was  a  good  misprint  in  a  Devon  paper.  .  .  . 
Some  festivity — Colonel  Hill  (I  think)  in  the  chair,  and 
after  speeches  somebody  rose  '  and  proposed  the  death 
of  the  Chairman  '  (loud  cheers  !)." 

*  (Sir)  William  Hardman,  whom  Shirley  nicknamed  "  Incarnate 
Justice." 

502 


J 


AS  AMATEUR  ACTOR 

"  Dec.  24th. 

''  A  fine  day.  Felt  somewhat  gloomily,  but  had 
some  affectionate  words  from  E.  at  night  that  made  me 
forget  all  that  had  crossed  my  mind.  Mrs.  Jerrold  and 
Alice  called.  The  latter  is  really  very  pretty  and  nice 
— to  parody  Pepys,  '  did  kisse  her  and  so  did  my  wife.' 
A  capital  talk  with  Cecil  about  the  origin  of  language 
— his  '  and  for  this  reason '  delightful  in  its  gravity, 
and  his  reason  was  good^  too.  Rego  expressed  himself 
very  properly  about  a  not  gentlemanly  paragraph  we 
had  read  in  a  paper — the  right  instinct,  a  coarser  b.oy 
would  have  seen  only  fun.  There — I  have  recorded 
good  of  each  of  them,  bless  them  all  three,  and  so  ends 
diary  for  Xmas  Eve." 

"  Dec.  26th. 

''  Kate  Bateman  Crowe*  wants  to  carry  out  our  old 
whim  of  playing  '  Bomhastes '  .-f  wants  to  do  it  on 
Isabel's  b.-d.  '  I  shall  never  be  satisfied  if  I  don't  play 
Distaffina  to  your  General.  Will  you,  or  would  it 
trouble  you  ?  We  wouldn't  be  bothered  with  costumes 
or  scenes.'  Well,  it's  Christmas :  let  us  laugh. 
Telegraphed 

** '  The  General  you  have  made  sends  verses  two  : 
Gladly  accepts.     Leaves  everything  to  you.' . 

In  an  hour  and  a  half  got  telegram,  '  Bless  you.  Will 
search  for  trusty  aides.'  Wrote  Lacy  for  the  book.  .  .  . 
Wrote     a     '  Proclamation     to    Correspondents '     for 

Punch.'' I 

"  Dec.  21th. 

''  Cab  to  14  Grafton  Street,  where  found  Mrs. 
Bateman,  Kate,  Jenny ,§  and  Bella.     We  rushed  into 

*  The  well-known  actress ;  married  George  Crowe  in  1866. 
t  "  Bomhastes  Furioso,"  burlesque  by  W.  B.  Rhodes. 
X  Punch,  Jan.  6th,  1872,  p.  12. 
§  Virginia  Bateman  (Mrs.  Compton.) 

503  .... 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

rehearsal,  and  had  the  greatest  fun.  Crowe  came. 
I  certainly  never  intended  to  perform  any  more, 
especially  before  80,  of  whom  a  lot  would  be  known  to 
me,  but  we'll  go  in  for  a  laugh  at  Xmas.  Only  one 
rehearsal,  however,  is  odds  against  an  amateur.  But 
my  doing  it  will  please  the  three  girls,  and  their  mother, 
and  I  like  them  all  excessively.  Proposed  to  introduce 
the  *  Jabberwock  verses '  from  '  Thro'  the  Looking- 
Glass '  instead  of  a  song,  as  I  don't  sing  that  I  know 
of.     So  home." 

"  Dec.  2Sth. 

''  Made  up  my  '  part '   of   Bomhastes,  marking  it, 
highly  useful  for  I  only  know  some  of  it.     He  ought  to 
be  very  grave.  .  .  .     We  4  went  at  ^  past  9  to  Grafton 

Street.    A  great  gathering.     Crowd,  the  big  room,  a  fine 
one,  being  reserved  for  supper.      At  1 1 .30  '  Bomhastes 
Furioso  ! ' 

Artaxominous  (King  of  Utopia)       . .   Kate 
Fusbos  (Minister  of  State)     . .         . .  Bella 

General  Bomhastes      . .         . .         . .  S.  B. 

Attendants  or  Courtiers 

Army — a  short  Drummer ^  a  long  Fifer   Cecil  (and) 

G.  Crowe 
Distafftna        . .  . .  . .         . .  Jenny 

It  was  so  hot.  We  had  no  green  room,  but  huddled 
behind  a  curtain.  Got  through  somehow.  Read  the 
*  Jabberwock,'  which  I  think  puzzled  sundry.  Intro- 
duced some  other  gag.  All  went  merrily,  and  the 
Ba,temen  were  delighted." 

So  ended  the  year  1871,  with  Shirley  as  General 
Bomhastes  hanging  up  his  boots  on  a  tree  with  the 
label : — 

"  Who  dares  this  pair  of  boots  displace 
Must  meet  Bomhastes  face  to  face." 

504 


"BOMBASTES  FURIOSO  ^' 

In  comes  the  King,  his  hated  rival,  Miss  Kate 
Bateman,  and  cuts  down  the  boots.  Shirley  "  kills  " 
Miss  Kate  Bateman.  Miss  Bella  Bateman,  as  Fushos, 
''  kills  "  Shirley.  After  which  the  dead  men  rise  one 
by  one,  join  the  dance,  and  promise,  if  the  audience 
likes,  ''  to  die  again  to-morrow.'* 


505 


CHAPTER  XIX 

1872  and  1873 — A  Fellow  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries — Lettei;.  to 
Miss  Matthews  and  G.  du  Maurier — Harrogate  and  the  Rev.  John 
Oakley — Serious  Illness  of  Reginald — Letters  to  the  Rev.  John 
Oakley,  Mrs.  Hardman,  Miss  Kate  Fergusson  and  Percival 
Leigh— Visit  to  Gadshill — Copyright  Reform— Prize-Giving  at  the 
International  College — Folkestone  and  Brighton  Visits — Death 
of  Landseer — "  A  Birthday  Acrostic  "  to  Miss  Kate  Fergusson — 
"  A  Breeze  "  with  the  Management  of  the  Illustrated  London 
News — The  Last  New  Year's  Eve  Festivities. 


ERE  again  [1872]  the  diary, 
in  common  with  so  many 
of  its  predecessors,  is 
missing,  and  we  must 
once  more  depend  mainly 
on  such  letters  as  have 
come  to  hand  for  the 
record  of  this,  the  last 
year  but  one,  of  Shirley's 
life.  Fortunately,  the 
period  is  rich  in  gossipy 
letters,  chiefly  written 
to  Miss  ("Torie") 
Matthews.  On  Jan.  16th 
he'  writes  : — 


506 


ABRAHAM   HAYWARD 

S.  B.  TO  Miss  Matthews. 

"  Do  you  get  the  Quarterly  Review  from  your  Cir- 
culating ?  There  is  an  amusing  article  full  of  anecdote 
on  Sir  Henry  Holland's*  book,  clearly  by  Hay  ward, 
which  his  name  is  '  Abraham/  but  they  say  if  you  ever 
address  him  so,  he  never  answers ;  if  you  say  '  A  *  he 
answers  in  a  week,  and  if  you  say  '  Alfred/  he  sends 
up  answer  by  special  messenger. 

'*  He  who  has  the  honour  of  addressing  you  has 
himself  the  honour  of  being  a  Fellow  of  the  Society  of 
Antiquaries  ! — he  was  elected  last  Thursday — he  may 
now  sign  S.  B.,  F.S.A.  But  he  postpones  being  proud 
until  he  shall  have  attended  a  meeting,  and  have  been 
embraced  by  my  Lord  Stanhope  in  a  '  Cocked  Hat.' 
Then  indeed  he  will  '  strike  the  stars  with  his  sublime 
head.'  Do  you  think  that  the  fact  of  the  Ed.  of  the 
H.  News  having  attained  this  glory  entitles  him  to  call 
on  the  proprietors!  to  give  a  banquet  at  the  '  Albion  '  ? 
if  so  the  project  shall  be  brought  forward.  It  seems 
a  national  event  rather  ! 

"  I  took  Cecil  to  the  Abbey  yesterday.  It  was  just 
the  day  to  see  it.  The  sun  lighted  up  the  coloured 
windows  and  made  the  most  beautiful  vista  of  the 
aisles.  I  know  nothing  Hke  the  Abbey  when  you  can 
see  it,  and  that  roof  of  Henry  VIFs  Chapel  is  simply 
divine.  But,  of  course,  being  a  London  thing,  it's 
beneath  the  notice  of  people  who  rave  about  Notre 
Dame,  etc. — which  reminds  me  of  what  Canning  wrote 
about  Pitt  and  Addington  : — 

**  '  Pitt  is  to  Addington 

What  London  is  to  Paddington.'  " 


*  "  Recollections  "  of  his  past  hfe. 

f  Of  whom  Miss  Matthews's  father  was  one. 

507 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 
Ditto  to  Ditto. 

'' Feh.  12th,  1872. 

"  Mrs.  Brooks  has  been  very  unwell.  I  want  her 
to  go  away  to  Torquay,  where  friends  keep  asking  her 
to  come,  but  there  is  the  Thanksgiving  Procession* 
to  see.  By  the  way,  this  will,  of  course,  be  a  mull  as 
usual.  They  ought  to  have  all  the  Bishops  in  their 
white  robes  walking,  singing  *  Come  to  my  arms  my 
Beamish  Boy,'  and  swinging  censers.  Have  you  seen 
the  translation  of  that  noble  poem  into  German  ? 
I  send  it  that  you  may  learn  it  by  heart.  See  here  ! 
A  bookseller  received  an  order  to  send  two  books  to  a 
customer.     This  is  the  way  they  were  described  : — 

"M.  Mill,  on  Liberty. 
2.  Ditto  on  the  Floss.' 

**  Do  you  remember  Byron  says  that  Murray  showed 
him  an  order  from  some  country  agent — *The  'Harold* 
and  '  Cookery  '  much  in  demand  ! 

"We  saw  '  PygmaUon  and  Galatea 'f  on  Friday. 
It  is  the  best  thing  for  years,  but  the  badness  of 
English  actors  is  frightfully  displayed.     Except  Madge 

Robertson    there    is    nothing  good^   and    Miss    

ought  to  be  burned  with  fire.  Still  it  is  the  piece  of 
the  time.  See  it,  if  you  have  not  done  so,  but  I  dare 
say  that  you  have,  for  I  never,  somehow,  go  to  a  play 
until  it  has  run  for  months.  I  fancy  Sothern  will  be 
very  savage  at  not  coming  back  in  May.  It  is  certain 
that  except  in  Dundreary  he  never  drew  largely 
in  London,  but  he  made  heaps  of  money  in  the 
provinces.'* 

*  The  Thanksgiving  Service  for  the  recovery  of  the  Prince  of 
Wales  took  place  on  February  27th. 

t  By  [Sir]  W.  S.  Gilbert,  first  produced  Dec.  9th,  1871.  Miss 
Madge  Robertson  (Mrs.  Kendal)  played  Galatea, 

5oa 


THE   LADY  AND  THE  GRINDSTONE 
S.  B.  TO  Miss  Matthews. 

"  Palm  Sunday  {March  24th),  1872. 

**  My  dear  Torie, 

'*  From  what  I  hear  of  your  sermon  to-day,  I  think 
that  this  sort  of  woman  would  meet  Mr.  H.'s  approval. 
She  reads  the  papers,  and  she  acts  vigorously. 

'' '  Proper  Precautions. — An  old  lady  read  a  para- 
graph in  one  of  the  papers  the  other  day,  describing 
how  a  grindstone  burst  in  a  saw  factory,  and  killed  four 
men.  She  happened  to  remember  that  there  was 
a  small  grindstone  down  in  her  cellar  leaning  against 
the  wall ;  so  she  went  out  and  got  an  accident  insurance 
policy,  and  then,  summoning  her  servant,  and  holding 
a  pipeboard  in  front  of  her,  so  that  if  the  thing  exploded 
her  face  would  not  be  injured,  she  had  the  stone  taken 
out  into  the  road,  where  24  buckets  of  water  were 
thrown  over  it,  and  a  stick  was  stuck  in  the  hole, 
bearing  a  placard  marked  *'  Dangerous.''  She  says  it 
is  a  mercy  the  whole  house  was  not  blown  to  pieces  by 
the  thing  before  this.' 

''  But  what  I  want  to  say  is  this.  We  are  invited 
...  on  the  17th,  and  I  want  to  know  whether  you  are 
asked.  Also  which  young  lady  is  going  to  be  wedded 
and  to  whom  ?  I  suppose  it  is  Miss  Ingram.  But 
give  me  any  enlightenment  you  can,  and  in  reward 
here  is  another  Americanism  for  you  : — 

**  A  New  York  paper  has  issued  the  following  *  first 
warning '  :  *  We  caution  four  black  cats  that  are 
continually  serenading  in  the  back  shed  that  there 
is  a  sausage  shop  two  doors  to  the  right.' 

"  What  did  you  do  yesterday  ?  Nothing,  I  suppose, 
and  I  helped  you.  I  think  it  was  the  vilest  day  I  ever 
saw.  Charles  Reade,  in  the  Observer ,  simply  and 
deliberately  *  curses '  it.  He  also  uses  '  excitive,' 
which  is  a  word,  but  not  the  one  he  should  have  used, 

509 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

and  lastly  he  speaks  of  *  Hemiplegia/  which  means 
a  palsy  that  afflicts  one-half  the  body,  and  which, 
therefore,  I  should  think  would  disquahfy  a  man  for 
rowing. 

''  This  is  my  last  : — 

'"LATEST  FROM  NEWGATE. 

"  *  No  fools  are  found  the  Wagga-wock  to  bail , 
So  he  who  lied  in  Court  still  lies  in  Gaol.'  * 

"  I  had — have  indeed,  written  some  nonsense  about 
Hot  Cross  buns,  and  given  a  recipe  for  making  them 
less  nasty.  But  I  nearly  escaped  a  hideous  peril. 
I  had  suggested  devilling  them.  Imagine  Devilling 
a  Hot  Cross  bun.  As  soon  as  it  was  on  paper  I  saw  my 
profanity,  and  tore  it  up.  I  have  advised  anchovies, 
which  are  not  wicked,  I  believe,  though  most  people 
who  like  them  are. 

*'  Shall  I  allude  to  Mr.  Haweis's  discourse,  the  part 
recommending  ladies  to  read  the  Summary,  and  say 
that  he  meant  the  '  Essence  '  ?  Which,  by  the  way, 
is  uncommonly  good  this  week,  that  is,  it  is  full  of 
quotations,  one  of  them  '  Yankee  Doodle  '  in  Latin  : — 

"  *  To  town  came  Doodle  with 
Little  horse  and  cudgel 
He  adorned  with  a  plume  his  hat, 
And  said  "  Macaroni." 

"  '  Ad  urbem  ivit  Doodlius  cum 
Caballo  et  calone, 
Ornavit  plumd  pileum 
Et  dixit  "  Macaroni."  f 

*  The  claimant  was  lodged  in  Newgate  on  March  7th  to  be  tried 
for  perjury,  and  on  April  26th  he  was  released  on  bail.  So  Shirley 
was  rather  premature. 

t  This  referred  to  the  "  indirect  claims  "  made  by  the  United 
States  for  enormous  pecuniary  compensation  in  the  Alabama  case. 
Not  only  did  they  ask  for  ordinary  "  damages,"  but  also  for  "  the 

510 


L.S.B. 

''  Macaroni     means,    as     I     need    not    tell     you, 
'  dandyfied  ' — see  '  School  for  Scandal.' 
"  *  Were  ever  beheld  such  beautiful  ponies, 

Other  horses  are  clowns,  but  these,  macaronies.' 

'*  Most  people  think  the  edihle  is  referred  to.  '  How 
blest  are  we  that  are  not  simple/ 

''  Here's  a  day.  If  it  had  been  like  this  yesterday  ! 
My  opinion  is  that  it  was  intended  to  give  us  weather 
for  yesterday,  but  the  Clerk  (who  is  married  to  the 
Daughter  of  the  Winds,  and  therefore  not  beset  with 
offers  of  wedlock)  forgot  Leap  Year.  Yet  he  ought  to 
keep  an  almanac,  the  *  Vox  Stellarum/  for  instance. 

''  Next  Sabbath's  Picture  Sunday,  and  .  .  . 
"  Enter  Hawes  (a  servant). 

''H.  '  Miss  Matthews  and  Mr.  Matthews  are  in  the 
drawing-room.  Sir.'     (Letter  abandoned.) 

"  S.     'I  come:  '' 

S.  B.  TO  George  du  Maurier. 

"  Good  Friday  {wet),  1872. 

{March  29th.) 

*'  KiKi,  MY  Dear, 

*'  There  now !  That's  all  you  get  by  having 
yourself  printed  in  great  red  letters,  and  stuck  on  every 
hoarding.     Such  is  our  judicious  backing  of  our  Jew  ! 

Parson 2,251 


Atheist 
Hebrew 
Son  of  a  dyer 


1,038 
526 
15* 


Were  you  one  of  the  Hampstead  34  ?     I  was  one  of 

natural  loss  incurred  through  the  transfer  of  much  of  the  American 
Commercial  Marine  to  the  British  flag,  the  enhancement  of  insur- 
ance, the  prolongation  of  the  war,  the  addition  of  a  large  sum  to  the 
cost  of  the  war  and  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion  !  "  These 
outrageous  claims  were  unhesitatingly  rejected  by  the  arbitrators. 
*  For  the  London  School  Board. 

511 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

the  Marrowbone  223.  I  got,  and  I  suppose  you  got, 
a  note  saying  that  success  was  certain  if  those  who 
promised  would  poll  early.  I  got  wet  in  polling  early. 
Kuss  everybody.  Catch  me  believing  in  a  seducious 
Dixon  any  more.  I  am  going  to  upbraid  him,  but  not 
on  Good  Friday.  When  I  made  my  mark  X  on  the 
ballot  paper,  I  asked  a  Dissenting  Mend  whether 
putting  that  against  a  Jew's  name  would  not  violate 
the  election.     He  fainted. 

''  '  Wanted,  a  good  Plain  Cook,  in  a  gentleman's 
family  ;  washing  put  out.  Wages  ;^16  a  year,  and  all 
found,  including  season  ticket  to  the  Crystal  Palace, 
and  half-holiday  on  Saturdays.  Address,  C.  H.  R., 
Post  Office,  Croydon.' 

Show  this  advertisement  to  Mrs.  du  Maurier.  I  wonder 
whether  'tis  genuine,  or  a  sarcasm. 

**  This  is  a  good  day  for  the  poor  holiday  makers. 
Very  well,  serve  'em  right.  Let  them  go  to  church, 
and  read  improving  works  in  the  afternoon.  Are  you 
going  a  Picture  round  on  Sunday  ?  If  so,  we  may 
meet,  but  I  won't  go  if  the  weather  keeps  like  this, 
mind  that. 

**  My  wife  and  son  went  to  see  Fechter  last  night. 
Such  a  had  house.  Palpably,  il  ne  dessine  pas.  Do 
you  dine  chez  Sir  H.  Thompson  on  Sunday  ?  I  am 
asked.  I  believe  many  of  the  guests  are  to  be  actors. 
I  hope  John  Hare  will  be  one.  He  is  almost  the  only 
actor  we  have.  .  .  .  This  is  the  hottest  day  we  have 
had  this  year,  so  says  the  thermometer.  It  is  depress- 
ing. That's  why  this  note  is  all  little  scraps.  I  am 
not  equal  to  a  sentence. 

**  If  you  could  draw  like  the  artist  whose  work 
I  enclose  it  would  be  worth  your  while  to  take  some 
lessons  from  one  of  the  Academy  Kallithumpkins.  .  .  . 

*'  Ever  yours, 

''S.  B." 
512 


THE  CORPSE'S  COUSINS 
S.  B.  TO  Miss  Matthews. 

"  April  9th,  1872. 

"  .  .  .  .  The  days  are  gone  when 

"  '  Barons  o'er  three  counties  galloped 
The  Hall's  fair  partner  to  behold 
And  humbly  hope  she  caught  no  cold.* 

But  we  may  send  a  note  to  make  the  same  enquiry, 
and  hope  none  of  you  caught  any.  That  wind  all  night 
was  keen  and  the  walk  to  the  carriage  venturesome 
for  the  lightly  clad. 

'*  Which  runs  fastest,  heat  or  cold  ? 

"  Heat,  of  course,  because  anybody  can  catch  cold ! 

'*  This  is  rather  queer.  The  master  of  ceremonies 
at  a  recent  St.  Louis  funeral  announced,  '  The  corpse's 
cousins  will  now  come  forward.*  Talking  of  corpses, 
I  suppose  that  house  in  Park  Lane  must  be  some  kind 
of  a  lodging-house.  I  did  not  know  that  there  were 
any  such  places  there.  The  name  at  No.  13  is  Theo- 
philus  Keene.  I  have  written  to  Charles  Keene  to 
know  whether  he  had  anything  to  do  with  the  murder. 
I  do  not  much  think  that  he  had,  but  artists  are 
eccentric.  He  has,  however,  much  good  sense,  and  if 
he  did  it  had  no  doubt  good  reasons.  Don't  you  like 
his  cut  enclosed  ?  The  legend  is  not  much,  but  the 
picture  itself  is  very  pretty. 

''  I  have  a  good  note  from  Frank  Burnand,  who  says 
he  has  written  a  long  and  capital  letter  to  somebody, 
but  it  can't  go,  because  to  direct  it  involves  looking 
into  the  directory  for  an  address,  and  the  book  is  at 
the  other  end  of  the  room.  But  he  hopes  in  a  few  days 
to  be  equal  to  the  exertion.  He  is  all  but  well  again, 
but  had  a  relapse.  He  says  he  is  gradually  making  his 
way  from  Torquay  to  Sussex,  but  as  his  next  place  is 
Launceston,  I  don't  understand  his  theory  of  progression, 
vide  map. 

513 

34— (•297) 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

"  You  asked  me  about  some  poetry.  Is  CampbelFs 
'  Last  Man  '  over  the  heads  of  your  pupils  ?  Hardly,  if 
'  Lycidas  *  isn't.  And  the  '  Last  Man '  is,  I  think,  as  fine 
as  anything  in  the  language.  I  never  think  it  much 
matters  about  a  child  fully  comprehending  a  thing 
at  the  time.  It  will  gradually  dawn  upon  him  or  her, 
and  the  sensation  will  be  one  for  which  gratitude 
should  be  felt.  Like  a  woman  discovering  new  and 
good  qualities  in  a  husband  whom  she  has  taken  only 
because  she  liked  him.  Not  that  women  often  make 
such  discoveries,  or,  if  they  do,  they  are  not  generous 
enough  to  declare  them. 

''  Did  I  ever  show  you  a  poem  I  wrote  some  years 
back,  called  the  '  White  Spotted  Horse  *  ?  It  is  very 
beautiful.  So  is  the  day,  only  I  put  my  thermometer 
in  the  window,  and  the  sun  has  burst  it,  and  sent  the 
red  liquor  over  my  blind.  This  would  make  a  good 
poem,  only  I  can't  think  of  any  ideas,  and  sun  isn't 
a  good  rhyme  to  thermometer." 

Ditto  to  Ditto, 

"  22nd  April,  72. 

''  My  dear  Torie, 

'*  This  is  curious  : — 

'* '  A  Castle  Burnt  Down. 
*'  *  Two  Lives  Lost. 
"  *  Early  yesterday  mornings  Derry  Castle,  the  mag- 
nificent residence  of  Mr.  William  Spaight,  situated  upon 
the  shores  of  Lough  Dergh,  near  Killaloe,  was  burned 
to  the  ground  last  night.     Two  persons  were  burned  to 
death  in  the  fire.' 
^*  This  is  more  so  : — 

"  '  Mysterious  Affair  in  Bradford. 
^'  '  Alleged  Confession  of  Murder  Nine  Years  Ago. 
*' '  A  few  days  ago  a  well-known  individual  died 

514 


5^  A  TRAP  FOR  LEWIS  CARROLL 

in  a  village  not  far  from  Bradford,  and  a  short  time 
subsequent  to  his  death  made  a  confession,  in  which  he 
stated  that  upwards  of  nine  years  ago  he,  in  company 
with  two  men,  waylaid  and  robbed  James  Lawson,  then 
a  cork-cutter  in  Bradford/ 

''  .  .  .  So  you  invaded  a  lot  of  exhibitions  on 
Saturday.  The  crowd  at  what  are  called  private  views 
is  a  dreadful  bore,  or  I  should  go  oftener.  Do  you 
notice  the  prices  Gillott's  pictures  are  fetching  ?  For 
that  '  Dolly  Varden '  that  sold  for  one  hundred 
guineas.  Frith  got,  I  think,  he  said  last  night,  £15. 
To  be  sure  this  was  many  years  ago.  But  there  are 
some  which  have  reached  mad  prices.  I  wish  I  had 
been  an  artist — I  suppose  it  is  too  late  to  begin  now 
I  should  never  be  anything  better  than  a  mere 
Academician. ' 

''  I  laid  a  trap  in  last  week's  *  Essence  '  about  Dodson 
and  '  Alice  in  Wonderland.*  The  author  has  walked 
into  it,  and  writes  to  Tenniel  to  say  that  he  should  be 
glad  if  the  error  were  not  corrected,  as  he  does  not 
wish  his  name  known  !  '  How  blest  are  we  that  are 
not  simple  men.** 

''  Ever  yours  faithfully, 

"  Shirley  Brooks.** 

Ditto  to  Ditto. 

"  May  5th,  1872. 
*'  .  .  .  We  went  to  '  Money  *t  last  night.     We  had 
seats  in  the  front  row  of  the  stalls,  close  to  the  Hghts. 
So  we  were  rather  hotter  than  Wimpole  Street,  as 

*  In  the  "  Essence  of  Parliament  "  for  April  20th,  1872,  Brooks 
had  mischievously  fathered  "  AUce  in  Wonderland  "  and  "  The 
Jabberwock  "  on  Mr.  Dodson,  the  then  Chairman  of  Committees, 
who  was  afterwards  created  Lord  Monkbretton,  ignorant  of,  or 
ignoring  the  fact  that  the  real  author  spelt  his  name  with  a  "  g," 

f  By  (Lord)  Lytton. 

515 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

described  by  the  Reverend  Haweis.*  However,  we 
had  lobster  and  champagne  for  supper  soon  after.  The 
play,  which  I  saw  on  its  first  night  (I  keep  no  medieval 
secrets)  in  Dec,  1840,  was  played  very  well  in  Prince 
of  Wales's  fashion,  that  is,  gracefully  but  without  the 
force  which  the  old  actors  gave  to  high  comedy.  Now, 
as  the  sentimental  part  is  weak,  it  suffered  from  the 
want  of  Macready's  grim  energy,  and  Helen  Faucit'sf 
earnest  passion.  But  it  pleased  folks  and  everybody 
was  called,  Coghlan  specially,  who  looked  a  very  sweet 
young  man,  pretty  to  behold.  Therefore,  I  hated  him, 
for  I  was  sweet  and  pretty  to  behold  in  1840,  and  am 
neither  in  1872.     '  Bless  '  it,  FU  do  the  sum,  I  will— 

1872 

1840 


32    Thirty-two. 

That's  looking  one*s  misfortunes  in  the  face — staring 
them  out  of  countenance,  I  may  say.  But  Lord 
Lytton  has  been  getting  on  also.  He  was  in  a  box. 
He  had  a  star  on.  They  called  him,  but  he  had  too 
much  sense  to  play  Voltaire,  who  let  himself  be  crowned 
in  a  theatre  in  his  old  age.  To-morrow  we  dine  at 
MivarFs  ;  J  he  is  a  great  scientific.  Tuesday  is  the 
funeral  of  my  dear  old  friend,  Horace  Mayhew.  I  said 
I  would  never  go  to  another,  except  one,  but  I  must  go 
on  Tuesday.  You  may  like  to  see  what  I  have  tried 
to  say  about  him.  The  world,  as  Thackeray  has  said, 
must  go  on  the  same,  funerals  notwithstanding,  and 
we  must  eat  and  drink  and  do  business,  but  we  shall 

♦  The  Rev.  H.  R.  Haweis  alluding  to  Gehenna  had  described  it 
as  a  pit  outside  Jerusalem,  about  the  length  and  breadth  of  Wimpole 
Street. 

t  I-ady  Martin. 

+  St.  George  Mivart,  the  well-known  biologist. 

516 


^  ^^PONNY'S"   DEATH 

have  no  P.  dinners  this  week,  but  the  cartoon  producers 
will  meet  at  the  ^Bedford'  and  dine  on  Tuesday  evening. 
Wednesday  the  Literary  Fund. 

'*  Extract  from  a  county  newspaper  : — 

''  ^  At  — ,  North-East  Cornwall,  yesterday,  Mr.  John 
Uglow,  a  farmer  in  good  circumstances,  committed 
suicide  just  before  attending  the  funeral  of  his  mother.' 

'*  Wasn't  it  thoughtful  of  him  to  do  it  first,  and  then 
attend  the  funeral  with  nothing  on  his  mind  ? 

*'  'The  Opera  Comique '  business  was  a  sort  of  success, 
I  take  it,  but  I  can't  quite  make  out  the  truth  till  I  see 
John  Oxenford's*  notice — not  that  he  tells  the  truth 
to  the  Philistines,  'tis  too  precious  an  article  to  throw 
away,  but  those  who  can  '  read  between  the  lines ' 
know  what  John  thinks. 

''  There  was  a  huge  crush  at  the  Private  View  on 
Friday,  but  the  rooms  are  spacious  and  there  was  not 
anything  disagreeable,  except  meeting  a  good  many 
persons  whom  one  dislikes.  But  then  we  met  a  great 
many  whom  I  don't  much  dislike,  not  being  myself 
of  the  mind  I  heard  Keeley  profess  once, 

"  *  I  hate  most  people  and  dislike  all  the  rest.' 
The  criticisms,  so  far  as  I  have  seen,  are  poorly  written 
this  year.     The  Daily  News  is  as  bad  as  any  picture 
in  the  show,  and  that's  saying  a  great  deal." 

This  was  Shirley's  graceful  and  heartfelt  tribute  to  his 
old  friend  : — 

'*  Horace  Mayhew. 
''  Ohiit  April  30th,  1872. 

'*  With  a  very  deep  sorrow  we  record  the  loss  of 
another  old  friend  and  colleague.  Horace  Mayhew 
has  been  unexpectedly  called  away.  Associated  with 
this  periodical  from  nearly  its  earliest  days,  he  was 
for  years  an  indefatigable  and  valued  contributor,  and 

*  For  a  quarter-of-a-century  dramatic  critic  to  the  Times. 

517 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

when  fortune  had  rendered  him  independent  of  labour, 
he  continued  to  share  our  counsels,  and  he  never  abated 
his  earnest  interest  in  our  work.  This  testimonial  is 
easy.  But  when  we  would  speak  of  the  manly  sim- 
plicity and  childlike  affection  of  his  nature,  of  his 
indomitable  cheerfulness,  of  his  ready  generosity,  and 
of  his  singular  sweetness  of  temper,  we  can  write  only 
what  must  seem  to  those  who  knew  him  not,  in  excess 
of  the  truth,  while  it  fails  to  do  justice  to  our  own 
knowledge  of  a  beloved  friend.  But  in  the  affectionate 
memories  of  us  all  his  worth  and  lovingness  will  be 
treasured  while  memory  remains  to  us.  Heavy  is  the 
grief  that  has  fallen  on  those  who  lived  in  friendship 
with  the  kind,  the  just,  the  gentle  'Ponny  Mayhew.'  ''* 

S.  B.  TO  Miss  Matthews. 

"  August  nth,  1872. 

"...  Parliament  is  up,  thank  Thor  and  Woden, 
and  the  stopper  is  in  the  '  Essence  '  Bottle. 

**  We  dined  with  Mrs.  Charles  Keanf  last  night, 
Queensborough  Terrace.  It  was  a  renewal  of  an  old 
friendship — that  is,  as  regards  me  :  I  used  to  be  inti- 
mate, but  have  not  been  to  her  house  for  many  years. 
She  is  67  and  wears  wonderfully.  They  have  Cardinal 
Wolsey's  hat,  and  a  beautiful  dagger  of  Henry  Eighth 
from  Strawberry  Hill.  I  should  like  the  dagger,  it  is 
crusted  with  jewellery ;  and  a  snuff-box,  goldenish, 
given  by  Lord  Byron  to  Edmund  Kean. 

**  I  am  asked  to  dine  at  the  Club  to-morrow,  to  meet 
Stanley,  who  discovered  Livingstone,  and  I  feel  in- 
clined to  go.     I  suppose  I  ought.     But  I  have  nearly 

*  An  unintentional  caricature-portrait  of  Mayhew  is  to  be  found 
in  Sir  John  Tenniel's  representation  of  "  The  White  Knight  "  in 
"  Alice  in  Wonderland." 

f  Mrs.  Charles  Kean  (Ellen  Tree)  had  retired  from  the  stage  on 
her  husband's  death  in  1868.     She  died  in  1880. 

518 


^  THOMAS  CARLYLE 

got  into  the  Gallio  stage  about  a  good  many  things 
that  people  are  enthusiastic  over.  Not  that  I  think 
this  a  good  state  of  mind,  but  there  is  the  fact.  I  do 
not  know  the  hving  man  whom  I  would  walk  five  miles 
to  see.  One  man  is  very  like  another,  especially  the 
other. 

"  They  won't  let  Babies  into  the  British  Museum. 
Somebody  sends  me  a  suggestion  that  they  ought  to 
be  let  into  the  Mummy  department.'* 

S.  B.  TO  Percival  Leigh. 

"  12th  August,  1872. 

*'  My  dear  Leigh, 

"  You  will  hke  to  know  that  I  have  a  very  pleasant 
note  from  a  lady,  '  Mary  Carlyle  Aitken,'  who  writes 
that  Carlyle  is  very  much  pleased  with  the  proof  of 
'  our  good-will  to  him.'  He  would  have  written  him- 
self, but  his  hand  shakes,  and  writing  is  difficult  and 
unpleasant  to  him.  I  am  glad  that  he  has  been 
gratified.  I  said,  in  sending  your  verses,  that  it  was 
due  to  him  *  that  he  should  see  them  before  they  were 
given  to  the  public,  and  that  though  it  would  be  absurd 
to  suppose  that  he  could  be  gratified  with  any  tribute, 
it  would  afford  honourable  pleasure  to  thousands.' 
Which  I  take  to  have  been  the  becoming  way  of  doing 
the  thing,  and  the  result  shows  that  he  thought  so  too.* 
'*  It  will  be  a  very  good  Almanac.  Some  admirable 
pictures.  For  all  your  ^valuable  aid,  much  thanks. 
But  you,  and  all  of  you,  do  make  my  work  as  pleasant 
as  it  can  be,  and,  outside^  everybody  tells  proprietors, 
etc.,  how  good  we  are. 

''  Ever  yours, 
"  P.  L.,  Esq."  "  S.  B. 

*  Vide  "A  Birthday  in  December,"  Punch,  Dec.  14th,  1872, 
p.  252.  Certainly  Carlyle  was  easily  pleased,  for  the  verses  are 
dreadfully  poor. 

519 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

In  September  Shirley  was  again  undergoing  a  ''  cure  '* 
at  Harrogate.  Amongst  those  with  whom  he  fore- 
gathered on  this  occasion  were  the  Rev.  John  Oakley, 
then  Vicar  of  St.  Saviour's,  Hoxton,  afterwards  Dean 
of  Manchester,  and  his  sister.  When  later  Mrs. 
Brooks  joined  the  party  she  told  Miss  Oakley  that  it 
was  the  only  time  she  had  seen  her  husband  drawn 
to  a  clergyman.  In  this  case  the  acquaintanceship 
ripened  into  intimacy,  Mr.  Oakley  being  attracted  by 
Shirley's  genial  and  pleasant  companionship,  and 
Shirley  by  Mr.  Oakley's  robust  common  sense.  Here 
are  my  friend,  Miss  Oakley's,  recollections  of  Shirley 
at  this  time  : — 

''  In  appearance  Mr.  S.  Brooks,  as  I  remember  him 
in  1872,  was  almost  exactly  hke  the  photo  of  him  in  his 
'  Wit  and  Humour,'  published  in  1875,  only  he  looked 
a  Httle  older  with  a  few  streaks  of  grey  (photo  was 
probably  taken  a  few  years  before),  but  the  luminous 
brown  eyes  and  full  lips  are  very  life-like.  He  was 
very  genial  and  sociable  and  a  most  interesting  talker — 
could  be  grave  as  well  as  gay,  and  equally  welcome  in  the 
drawing-room  as  the  smoking-room.  In  the  evenings 
he  was  generally  in  the  former,  and  always  ready  to 
talk,  declining  to  join  the  elderly  rubbers,  indeed  said 
he  could  not  understand  how  anyone  could  want  to  play 
games  when  they  could  talk.  He  seemed  very  busy 
most  of  the  day,  and  had  large  parcels  from  the  Punch 
Office  to  go  through  weekly — and  chiefly  consign  to 
the  waste-paper  basket,  he  told  us  !  He  was  fond  of 
asking  questions,  such  as,  '  If  you  were  to  be  cast  on 
a  desert  island  with  only  three  books,  which  three 
would  you  wish  them  to  be  ?  '  His  own  choice,  I 
remember  he  said,  would  include  a  prayer-book  instead 

520 


CLERGYMEN 

of  a  Bible,  which  would  be  the  usual  vote,  and  he  must 
have  a  copy  of  '  Rabelais/  His  third,  I  am  sorry  to  say, 
I  have  quite  forgotten.  He  was  careful  to  tell  us  that 
though '  Rabelais  '  had  always  been  much  to  him,  he  did 
not  advise  us  ladies  to  study  him  !  '' 

Notwithstanding  Mrs.  Brooks's  surprise  at  her 
husband's  friendship  with  Mr.  Oakley,  it  is  nevertheless 
a  fact  that  he  was  on  very  good  terms  with  several 
other  divines,  from  Dean  Hole  downwards.  Indeed, 
he  was  rather  fond  of  sa5dng  in  his  cynical,  humorous 
way  that  he  had  several  reverend  friends,  whose 
friendship  he  valued  too  much  ever  to  go  and  hear 
them  preach  !  High  Anglicanism  he  did  not  love  at  all. 
*'  Turks  put  off  their  shoes  on  entering  a  church,"  he 
one  day  said  Apropos  of  certain  Ritualistic  practices 
of  which  he  professed  to  disapprove,  ''  and  some 
Christian  folks  put  off  their  understandings.''  Not 
that  Shirley's  opinion  on  such  matters  was  of  any 
value  whatever.  Indeed,  as  likely  as  not,  it  was  not  his 
opinion,  and  he  may  merely  have  been  seizing  the 
opportunity,  inveterate  jester  that  he  was,  of  making 
a  not  very  clever  play  upon  words. 

From  Harrogate  he  writes  : — 

S.  B.  TO  Miss  Matthews. 

**  The  Granby  Hotel, 
"  Harrogate, 
"  Sept.  25th,  1872. 

"...  We  have  vile  weather.  I  am  driven  to  a 
private  room  and  a  fire,  and  I  work  a  little  to  prevent 
an  influx  of  the  cerulean  demons.  It  is  rather  aggra- 
vating not  to  be  able  to  get  about.     I  had  a  good 

521 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

8-mile  walk  on  Sunday,  but  since  that  locomotion  has 
been  impossible.  *  Marry  good  air/  as  Justice  Swallow 
says,  but  I  prefer  marrying  sunshine.  People  have 
some  fatuous  idea  that  things  will  be  better  after  the 
equinox,  but  I  don't  know  why. 

''  The  newspaper  is  a  valuable  civilizer,  but  it  is  not 
always  rigidly  accurate,  e.g.,  touching  a  performance 
at  a  so-called  theatre  last  night :  '  There  was  an 
excellent  audience,  the  notabilities  including  Mr.  Frith, 
R.A.,  Mr.  Shirley  Brooks,  Editor  of  Punch,  and  Mr. 
Geo.  Elhs,  M.P.'  '  Mr.  Frith '  is  in  Dorsetshire, 
'  Mr.  Brooks  '  did  not  leave  the  hotel,  there  is  no  such 
person  as  '  Mr.  G.  Ellis,  M.P.',  but  Mr.  G.  EUiott,  who 
is  not  an  M.P.  Such  are  the  materials  for  history  of 
eminent  personages. 

**  To  the  wrath  of  the  proprietors  of  the  hotels  here, 
some  of  which  are  very  handsome,  the  local  authorities 
have  ordered  that  they  shall  all  exhibit  sign  boards. 
Our  spirited  little  hostess  here  is  all  afire.  I  advised 
her  to  return  the  notice,  scoring  across  it  *  Matthew 
xii,  v.  39,'*  and  I  think  she  will." 

S.  B.  TO  Miss  Matthews. 

"  Sth  of  Dec,  72. 

"  •.  .  .  Some  Bishop  said,  '  Temper  is  nine-tenths  of 
Christianity.'  But  what  Bishop  ?  If  it's  true  I  have 
been  an  awful  bad  Christian  this  week,  having  been 
into  nine-and-twenty  distinct  and  separate  rages.  But 
it  was  not  my  fault.  People  have  been  so  stupid.  The 
Almanac  is  not  done,  but  I  think  Wednesday  will  see 
it  out  of  my  hands,  and  the  time  it  has  taken  will  be 
deducted  from  the  time  in  purgatory,  if  accounts  are 
at  all  fairly  kept  by  Mr.  Sterne's  angels  and  his  clerks." 

♦  "  An  evil  and  adulterous  generation  seeketh  after  a  sign  ;   and 
there  shall  no  sign  be  given  it,  but  the  sign  of  the  prophet  Jonas." 

522 


BRIMSTONE  BETTER  THAN  MUD 

That  is  the  record  of  1872,  wanting  the  diary  which 
may  or  may  not  be  in  existence. 

Fortunately  the  diary  for  1873,  the  last  complete 
year  of  Shirley's  life,  has  come  to  hand,  and,  with  the 
letters,  affords  a  very  complete  history  of  his  last 
activities. 

Here  are  a  few  of  the  names  casually  mentioned 
in  passages  which  do  not  call  for  extended  quotation : — 

St.  John  Mivart ;  Holman  Hunt ;  Dean  Hole  : 
[''  who  urges  me  to  collect  my  miscellanea  "] ;  Frances 
P.  Cobbe  :  [*'  so  fat  and  merry,  but  a  strong-minded 
woman  "] ;  German  Reed  :  [*'  asked  me  to  dine  with 
him  and  Anderson,  the  actor — not  too  lively  an  idea, 
but  we'll  see  "] ;  Haweis  :  [*'  who  had  sent  me  a 
pamphlet  about  unfermented  sacramental  wine  *'] ; 
Charles  Knight  :  [*'  a  good  man  who  did  very  good 
work  ;  it  is  an  honour  to  have  been  his  friend '']  ; 
Mrs.  Bateman  :  ["  who  says  the  weather  makes  her 
not  afraid  of  death,  for  brimstone,  to  which  she  knows 
she  ought  to  go,  is  not  so  bad  as  mud  ;*]  ;  Leland  : 
["  who  told  someone,  who  told  Shirley  Brooks,  that  he 
considered  him  (S.  B.)  the  most  agreeable  man  he  had 
met  in  England  ''] ;  Val  Prinsep  :  [''  who  told  me  the 
reporter  sent  to  see  his  (swine)  picture  had  never  heard 
of  the  *  Gaderenes,'  and  made  him  spell  the  word  "]  ; 
Burnand  :  ["  read  his  new  story  in  Macmillan,  *  My 
Time  ' — I  like  it  and  wrote  and  told  him  so  '*]  ;  Edmund 
Yates  :  [**  to  whom  I  have  hitherto  given  a  wide  berth, 
as  I  think  he  owes  me  some  acknowledgment  for 
making  use  of  my  H(ouse)  of  C(ommons)  article  in  the 
Q(uarterly)  R(eview)  for  his  most  successful  lecture  *'] ; 
some  Americans  :  [''  how  clever  and  yet  how  ignorant 
these  Yankees  are  !  *'] ;  Palgrave  Simpson  :  ['*  who 
has  been  hurting  himself  by  a  fall  in  a  Swiss  mountain. 

523 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

He  might  neglect  mountains  at  70  '*] ;  Mrs.  Keeley  : 
[*'  wondrous  young  "]  ;  Henry  de  Bathe  :  ["  whose 
handsome  face  is  becoming  Irish "] ;  Mrs.  Henry 
Wood  :  ['*  whose  twaddle  is  that  of  a  monthly  nurse  "] ; 
the  Crowdys  :  [''  who  hold  high  place  in  my  regard  '*] ; 
the  Matthews  :  [**  to  whose  house  I  would  rather  go 
than  anywhere  ''] ;  Charles  Keene  :  [''  who  now  works 
in  a  house  with  3  other  artists,  and  they  have  no 
servant,  but  an  old  '  char  *  cleans  them  out — very 
little,  I  daresay  "]  ;  Leslie  Stephen  :  [''  like  Master 
Stephen  (Ben  Jo)inson)  and  affects  a  melancholy  "]. 

As  in  other  chapters,  I  shall  here  leave  Shirley  as  far 
as  possible  to  tell  his  own  story,  only  adding  such 
explanatory  notes  to  his  diary  and  letters  as  seem 
necessary  for  a  generation  to  which  the  events  of  the 
'*  seventies  " — to  some  of  us  but  the  events  of  yesterday 
— read  like  mediaeval  or  ancient  history. 

S.  B.  TO  Miss  Matthews. 

"  Jan.  3rd,  1873. 

"...  I  have  been  reading  my  story  in  London 
Society.  It  is  not  so  stupid  as  I  had  thought.  But 
/  was  main  stupid  when  I  was  writing  it,  having  a  bad 
cold.  'Twill  pass  and  there  was  twenty  guineas  very 
easily  earned.  John  Leech  told  me  a  story  apropos  of 
earning.  In  his  youth  he  made  a  woodcut  in  an  hour, 
took  it  out  and  sold  it  for  a  guinea.  '  Now,  John,' 
said  his  mother,  '  you  see  your  way  to  comfort  and 
affluence.  That  took  you  an  hour,  and  you  got  a 
guinea  ;  you  ought  to  work  eight  hours  a  day,  that's 
8  guineas,  or  48  guineas  a  week,  my  dear,  for  I  would 
have  you  rest  on  the  Sabbath.' 

**  Did  you  see  the  Times  notice  yesterday  of  the 
old  Masters  ?     Tom  Taylor  contradicted  me  at  the 

524 


"SATURDAY   REVIEW'S"   IMPERTINENCE 

show,  about  which  of  the  Miss  Keppels*  married  Lord 
Tavistock,  and  died  of  a  broken  heart  for  his  broken 
neck.  And  he  put  his  own  story  with  his  notice  saying, 
'  Lady  CaroHne's  story  is  a  sad  one/  etc.,  but  I  went  to 
my  Walpole  and  not  only  found  one  of  his  own  notes 
saying  it  was  Lady  Ehzabeth,  but  in  a  letter  '  Lord 
Tavistock  has  thrown  the  handkerchief  to  Elizabeth 
Keppel,  and  they  marry  on  Tuesday.*  So  I  sent  him 
the  verification.  It  is  not  of  the  sUghtest  consequence 
in  this  world  or  as  you  would  say  in  the  other,  but  I  do 
know  my  Walpole.  I  shall  go  and  post  this,  Fve  got 
Scudamoref  to  bring  the  pillar  post  over  from  the 
Alpha  Road  to  our  Terrace-end.  I  spex  the  Alpha- 
betians  are  in  a  heinous  rage,  but  they're  a  low  lot 
and  it  serves  them  right." 

Ditto  to  Ditto. 

''1st  Sunday  in  1873. 
"...  The  Saturday  Review  has  been  impertinent 
two  or  three  times,  so  I  have,  this  week,  been  inspired 
or  aggravated  to  order  him  into  the  flogging-room. 
I  think  I  have  laid  on  the  birch  with  some  emphasis, 
and  I  have  done  it  in  a  picture  that  everybody  may 
see  it.  For  in  an  old  French  book  about  discipline  in 
convents  I  remember  reading,  *  When  you  whip,'  said 
the  holy  man,  '  do  it  well  and  for  some  time.'  What's 
good  for  nuns  may  be  good  for  monks  Hke  the  clerical 
humbugs  of  the  S.  R.  They  were  specially  violent 
about  the  '  Pocket- Book.' + 

*  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds's  portrait  of  Lady  Elizabeth  Keppel  as 
one  of  the  Royal  bridesmaids.  Lord  Tavistock  was  killed  out 
hunting. 

t  Frank  Ives  Scudamore,  at  that  time  second  Secretary  of  the 
Post  Office. 

+  The  picture  was  drawn  by  Mr.  W.  Ralston,  and  represented 
father  and  son  at  the  club.     The  legend  ran  : — 

"  Pater.     *  Ernest,  a  word.     You  were  in  turns  deplorably  dull 

525 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

I  "  Anthony  Trollope  was  one  of  the  guests  last  night. 
He  roars  more  than  ever  since  Austraha.  He  was 
exceedingly  jolly  and  Billy  Russell  was  opposite  to  him, 
so  they  fired  away  good  stories.  When  they  were  at 
cards  we  heard  Anthony*  s  thunder,  and  then  a  wild 
Banshee  cry  from  the  Irishman,  till  we  threatened 
them  with  the  police.  Then  Anthony  said  we  were 
conventional  tyrants,  and  Russell  said  in  a  weeping 
voice  that  Ireland  was  accustomed  to  be  trampled  on." 

"  fan.  Ath.     (Diary.) 
I         ''  Trollope  most  laudatory  of  me  (to  me  privately) 
touching  my  verses  and  the  like,  and  urgent  that  I  should 
'  proclaim  '  myself  much  more.     Tis  not  my  way,  but 
the  advice  was  good.'* 

"  Jan.  &h. 

*'  Proofs,  I.L.N.  The  new  series  of  my  notes  to  be 
called  '  By  the  Way.*  This  is  a  trifle,  about  which 
I  care  nought.  We  dined  again  at  B.  St.  Small 
party.  W.  Agnew,  W.  B.,  F.  S.,  Kiki,  Sambourne, 
J.  T.,  S.  B.,  and  hard  work  to  get  a  cut — at  last  I  hit 
on  one  which  was  much  approved,  but  it  is  the  deuce 
and  aU  to  have  no  helpers — told  W.  B.  so,  and  that  the 
dinner  was  really  useless.* 

and  vulgarly  flippant  at  dinner  last  night.  My  dear  boy,  you 
grieved  me.  Surely  you  had  not  been  taking — no  you  could  not 
be  so — how  was  it  ?  ' 

"  Filius.  '  My  dear  father,  it  shall  never  happen  again.  I  am 
heartily  sorry.     Drinking  ?     No.     The  fact  is,  I  had  looked  in  here,         I 

and  the  only  paper  disengaged — it  always  is — was  the  S y         ^ 

Review.     I  read  too  much  of  it.     I  am  quite  ashamed.' 

"  {They  shake  hands  and  exeunt.)' ' 

♦  This  need  not,  I  think,  be  taken  too  seriously.  There  is  no 
question,  indeed  it  is  obvious  from  a  dozen  extracts  given,  that 
Shirley  much  valued  the  co-operation  of  his  colleagues, 

526 


WAS   LOUIS   NAPOLEON   A  VILLAIN? 

"  Jan.  9th. 

''  To-day  is  marked  by  an  event,  namely  the  Death 
OF  THE  Emperor  Napoleon.  He  had  undergone  two 
operations,  and  was  supposed  to  be  going  on  well. 
But  he  suddenly  succumbed,  and  expired  at  n.45  a.m. 
We  heard  the  street  newspaper  men  bawling  about  4, 
and  E.  bought  the  Globe,  and  brought  me  the  news. 
I  was  writing  the  H.N.  in  the  above  sense,  and  had 
to  reconstruct  my  article.  I  need  not  here  make  any 
remark,  having  printed  all  I  had  to  say.  Wrote 
T.  Taylor  to  give  me  a  few  verses.  I  hope  he  will  do 
them  well.  I  think  I  saw  the  Emperor  only  once,  at 
the  Opera,  from  Arcedekn^'s  box,  on  the  State  visit. 
But  I  have  seen  him  in  Paris. 

"  *  They  shall  not  say  I  have  not  had  the  crown  : 
I  was  not  fool  as  well  as  villain.* 

Villain,  however,  he  was  not.  But  he  knew  the 
French,  and  said  that  ''  they  could  be  ridden  only  with 
spurs."  But  as  he  grew  old,  his  hfe  told  on  him,  and 
on  his  head.  However,  it  was  not  he  who  brought  on 
the  war  that  prostrated  France." 

"  Jan.  lOth. 

*'  Wrote  a  lot  of  small  things  for  Punch — these  are 
valuable,  as  lightening  it,  and  I  vrish  I  could  find 
somebody  else  with  a  facile  pen  to  do  them  for  me." 

"  Jan.  lUh. 

"  Editing.  Somewhat  exercised  vrith  T.  T.'s  verses 
on  the  Emperor,  but  succeeded  in  smoothing  them.* 
He  has  capital  ideas,  and  words,  but  a  bad  ear.  .  .  . 

"...  The  Rev.  asks  me  for  a  '  big  box  *  for 

♦  Vide  Punch,  Jan.  18th,  p.  23. 

527 


SHIRLEY   BROOKS 

a  pantomime  for  his  choir  !  MM.  the  priests  are  cool 
— in  this  world.  Wrote  him  next  day  that  I  could 
not  do  it.'' 

"  Jan.  I5ih. 

''  When  I  got  to  my  P.  letters  at  the  office,  found 
a  very  nice  letter  from  Rego,  dated  9th  (in  an  envelope 
of  my  own  direction),  asking  me  about  his  going  to 
Oxford,  and  representing  that  the  expense  would  be 
only  some  £50  more  than  at  present.  He  submits  to 
my  wish,  but  urges  his  own  to  go.  I  ought  to  have 
had  this  on  Saturday,  but  it  had  not  come  up  to  my 
leaving.  I  had  therefore  written  him  twice  without 
reference  to  it.  Wrote,  next  day,  as  kindly  as  I  could, 
and  '  saying  I  had  promised  he  should  go  to  Oxford, 
that  I  never  willingly  broke  my  promise  to  any  of 
*  my  3,'  that  I  thought  it  good  for  him  to  go,  that  I 
never  thought  of  expense  when  his  and  C.'s  welfare 
was  concerned,  that  all  I  could  give  them  was  a  first- 
rate  education,  and  that  if  I  had  health  and  strength, 
he  should  go  through  the  University.  Also  I  suggested 
his  looking  to  his  pen  and  style  as  means  to  an  end.'* 

"  Jan.  21s/. 

*'  At  7  to  Raleigh  Club,  to  d.  with  Christie.  The 
new  premises  are  capital,  and  he  has  a  delightful 
lodgment  up  aloft.  A  good  little  dinner  and  one 
magnum  of  excellent  champagne.  Then  upstairs  for 
smoke  and  chat,  and  altogether  as  agreeable  an  evening 
as  I  have  had  lately.  This  club  is  much  addicted  to 
gambling — at  a  game  they  call  pool  ecarte,  heaps  of  gold 
pass,  and  a  man  was  utterly  cleaned  out  the  other  day 
and  had  to  retire.  The  committee  try  to  fight  this, 
but  the  men  are  rebellious  and  want  to  turn  out  the 
committee  and  have  one  '  more  in  accordance  with  the 
spirit  of  the  club.'  I  saw  so  many  pleasant  looking 
young  fellows  about  that  I  was  sorry  to  hear  of  this — 

528 


CECIL'S   SIMPLICITY   OF  SELFISHNESS 

old    club    cynics    may    squander    and    plunder   one 
another  to  their  hearts'  content." 

*'  Jan.  23rd. 

**  Heard  of  a  dreadful  thing  last  night  at  11 — an 
emigrant  ship  for  Australia,  the  Northfleet,  lying  at 
anchor  off  Dungeness,  was  cut  down  by  a  steamer, 
which  then  went  off  without  offering  aid,  and  some 
300  were  drowned,  as  was  the  Captain,  Knowles,  who 
behaved  nobly.*  A  fearful  scene  of  fight  for  boats, 
not  hke  that  Birkenhead,  in  Feb.,  1852,  of  which  I  can 
never  speak  without  proud  tears  in  my  eyes." 

"  Jan.  24th. 

''  Cecil  does  not  approve  of  the  proposed  visit  to 
him  [at  school],  '  as  it  will  spoil  the  excitement  of  the 
autumn.'  There  is  a  simplicity  of  selfishness  here 
which  almost  atones  for  itself." 

In  January  bad  news  had  been  received  from  Heidel- 
berg, where  Reginald  was  now  studying,  and  Mrs. 
Brooks  had  hurried  off  to  her  son's  bedside.  Every 
page  of  the  diary  breathes  of  distress  and  anxiety. 
Every  day  Shirley  holds  himself  in  readiness  to  join  her. 

On  Feb.  1st  he  writes  : — 

"  Home,  to  find  a  sad  letter  from  E.,  who  has  con- 
sulted Prof.  Freidreich,  who  says  '  Mentone  '  and  at 
once.  I  dare  not  think  what  this  seems  to  mean. 
E.  begs  me  not  to  give  way,  but  to  *  keep  strong  for  all 
their  sakes.'  I  shall  set  down  very  little  about  feelings 
— no  chance  of  forgetting  them,  but,  for  a  moment  only, 
passing  from  him  1  tremble  for  her.  Thanked  Rosie 
for  her  children's  prayers." 

*  The  steamer  which  left  the  sinking  ship  was  the  Spanish  vessel, 
Murillo.  She  was  captured  near  Dover  in  the  following  September, 
and  condemned  by  the  Court  of  Admiralty  to  be  sold. 

529 

35— (3297) 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

"  Feb.  5th. 

"  A  note  from  E.  when  I  got  home.  She  thinks  of 
a  halt  at  Geneva,  and  I  think  the  plan  a  good  one. 
*  Prays,  and  will  not  believe  that  one  so  good  and  clever 
and  young  should  be  taken/  No,  and  I  told  her  next 
day  to  drive  away  such  thoughts  '  as  Abraham  did  the 
birds/  On  this  I  heard  Waldo  Sibthorpe  preach  at 
S.  John's,  Bedford  Row,  I  suppose  35  years  ago. 
(Bread  on  the  waters.)  " 

By  degrees  the  bulletins  grew  better,  but  Shirley's 
nerves  were  on  edge. 

''  Got  what  the  women  call  a  *  turn,'  a  four-wheeled 
cab  drove  up,  with  a  load  of  luggage,  and  a  small  gloved 
hand  indicated  to  the  man  that  he  had  gone  too  far — 
to  No.  7 — and  he  was  to  turn.  I  wish  it  had  been  hers 
—that's  all." 

After  two  months  of  loneliness  he  writes  : — 

'*  Dismally  dull,  but  I  have  now  news  of  a  cheerful 
sort.     D.G." 

And  four  days  later  : — 

*'  Went  to  bed  ;  read  ;  and  was  putting  out  light, 
when  there  was  a  knock  at  my  door,  and  the  next 
moment  Emily  and  Rego  were  at  my  bedside.  They 
had  decided  on  coming  by  Folkestone,  and  had  sent 
telegram  to  Alderman  to  get  supper.  She  had  taken 
herself  out  and  Wilson  did  not  bring  the  telegram  to 
me,  all  most  vexing.  Up  in  5  minutes,  and  down,  and 
Torie's  eggs  made  them  something  of  a  supper.  Too 
late  to  get  aught  else,  and  so  we  sat  till  1,  and  Rego 
and  I  had  a  cigar  together.  He  looks  well,  and  has 
grown  very  handsome  and  manly,  but  poor  dear  E.  is 

530 


ANXIETY   FOR   REGINALD 

quite  knocked  up,  and  painfully  afflicted  otherwise. 
But  that  we'll  hope  to  set  right.  I  did  thank  God  for 
their  safe  arrival.*' 

S.  B.  TO  Rev.  John  Oakley. 

"  6  Kent  Terrace, 

*'  Regent's  Park, 

"Feb.  nth,  1873. 

"  My  dear  Mr.  Oakley, 

''  Your  note  of  to-day  has  just  been  dehvered  to 
me.  Alas,  we  have  been  in  trouble.  I  wiU  not  say 
that  we  are^  for  I  hope  that  we  have  turned  aU  corners. 
My  elder  boy,  about  17,  was  at  Heidelberg,  preparing 
for  Oxford,  and  about  3  weeks  ago  his  mother  was 
telegraphed  for,  in  consequence  of  his  dangerous 
illness.  She  went  off,  one  horrible  Sunday  morning,  in 
the  dark  and  rain,  and  has  been  with  him  ever  since. 
He  is  out  of  all  danger,  but  eminent  doctors  have 
ordered  him  south,  and  south  the  two  are  going. 
I  heard  from  Mrs.  Brooks  this  morning,  from  Basle ^ 
on  her  way  to  Mentone  with  him,  via  Geneva.  When 
she  will  return,  I  know  not.  It  was  so  clearly  a  duty 
to  go,  and  equally  so  is  it  a  duty  to  stay  with  him,  that 
I  cannot  say  a  word,  and  I  am  too  grateful  for  his 
escape  to  say  one,  but  my  house  is  left  unto  me 
desolate. 

*'  Had  things  been  different,  we  should  have  enjoyed 
coming  to  your  Carnival,  and  have  heartily  thanked 
you  for  the  opportunity.  But,  as  they  are,  I  am  not 
in  any  case  for  being  happy,  or  trying  to  make  anybody 
else  so,  and  I  must  reluctantly  ask  you  to  let  me 
decline  an  invitation  I  should  have  otherwise  have 
gladly  accepted. 

''  I  also  greatly  regret  that  my  wife's  absence  wiU 
deprive  her  of  the  pleasure  of  making  Mrs.  Oakley's 
acquaintance,   but  this  is,   I  trust,   only  a  pleasure 

531 


SHIRLEY   BROOKS 

postponed.     I  much  regret  not  to  hear  a  better  account 
of  your  father. 

*'  Will  you  remember  me  very  kindly  to  Miss  Oakley 
and 

'*  Believe  me  very  faithfully  yours, 

*'  Shirley  Brooks.*' 

S.  B.  TO  Percival  Leigh. 

"  Quinqiiagesima  Sunday, 

"  Feh.  23rd,  1873. 

"  My  dear  Leigh, 

**  Will  you  kindly  take  up  the  subject  of  the 
under-payment  of  our  excellent  Police  Magistrates,  and 
give  me  J  or  f  of  a  column  on  it  ?  I  think,  considering 
the  work  they  do,  that  they  are  unjustly  treated,  and 
the  salaries  were  fixed  35  years  ago  by  Sir  R.  Peel, 
Joe  Hume,  and  others,  and  £1,200  a  year,  less  Income 
Tax  in  1873,  is  a  very  different  thing  from  £1,200  a  year 
and  no  such  tax  in  1830.  They  keep  London  quiet 
for  us  at  an  annual  cost  considerably  under  £20,000  ; 
they  ought  at  least  to  be  paid  as  well  as  County  Court 
judges,  and  if  a  magistrate  does  his  work  conscientiously 
(as  they  certainly  do)  he  is  able  or  inclined  to  do 
nothing  else.     They  may  not,  indeed,  practise.* 

*'  Here  is  the  letter  from  my  old  friend  (whose  wife 
admired  Lord  Melbourne,)  and  I  think  it  is  just  a  case 
for  your  irony.  I  know  the  magistrates  like  Punch , 
and  I  would  gladly  do  them  a  good  and  just  turn. 
False  economy  is  the  vice  of  the  day. 

"  Ever  your  affectionate 

''  Editor. 
"  P.  Leigh,  Esq.'' 

♦  This  resulted  in  "  Our  Great  Underpaid,"  Punch,  March  15th, 
p.  105. 

532 


UNDERPAYMENT    OF    POLICE    MAGISTRATES 

S.  B.  TO  Mrs.  (Lady)  Hardman. 

"  6  Tanais  Terrace, 
"  Siberia, 
"  25th  Feb.,  73. 

'*  My  dear  Mrs.  Hardman, 

''  Many  thanks   for  your  kind  invitation.     But 
alas  ! 

"  '  The  (Jewish)  Sabbath  smiles  no  hoHday  for  'im.* 

Saturday  evening  is  one  on  which  I  am  doomed  to  the 
kuss  of  labour  up  to  8  o'clock.  I  am  obUged  to  debar 
myself  (like  Edwin  James*)  from  all  pleasures  until 
I  have  seen  P.  safely  thro'  the  printers'  hands. 

"  But  why  talk  we  of  hospitahties — hospitals  is  the 
word  for  the  time.     Is  not  this  weather  horrid  ? 
'* '  Lo,  where  Maeotis  sleeps,  and  hardly  flows 
The  freezing  Tanais  thro'  a  waste  of  snows." 

(his  favourite  lines,  by  the  way,  they  say).  If  we  were 
wise  we  should  shut  all  our  shutters,  and  not  look 
out  any  more  till  somebody  came  to  say  that  the 
primroses  were  about.  I  got  forth  to  dine  yesterday — 
no  vehicles  here — but  I  put  on  a  huge  pair  of  shooting 
boots  (not  that  I  shoot)  and  stamped  away  thro'  the 
snow.  Rather  a  good  effect  was  caused  by  my  chang- 
ing boots  in  the  hall,  while  ladies  came  in,  and  looked 
on  admiringly. 

''  I  have  a  letter  dated  Friday — still  from  Geneva, 
but  I  suppose  my  swallows  flying  south  are  at  Turin 
by  this  time.  Reginald  is  doing  very  well  indeed, 
thank  you  much.  I  am  a  hermit,  and  am  getting 
into  the  habit  of  not  speaking — I  shall  be  distinguished 
when  the  Scandinavian  end  of  the  world  comes,  and 
the  '  Dynasty  of  Silence '  shall  be  estabhshed.  Kindest 
regards  to  my  brother  editor.  I  was  out  somewhere 
last  week,  and  met  one  of  his  slaves  of  the  lamp — I 

♦  Edwin  James  had  been  debarred  for  unprofessional  conduct. 

533 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

think  he  was  called  a  green  baker  or  thereabouts — 
a  very  agreeable  man.     .,  ^^^^  ^^^^^  faithfully, 
"  Mrs.  Hardman."  "  Shipley  Brooks. 

But  during  these  two  months  of  separation  he  had 
of  course  been  hard  at  work,  and  hfe  had  gone  on,  as 
Hfe  has  to  go  on,  as  though  there  are  no  tragedies  nor 
anxieties  below  the  surface. 
"  Feb.  lOfh, 

**  Charles  Reade  has  sued  the  Advertiser  for  calling 
'  Shilly  Shally  '  (his  play  on  Trollope's  novel)  indecent, 
and  has  got  £200.  He  had  a  chance,  and  used  it,  of 
saying  some  hard  and  true  things  about  the  critics. 
One,  the  Times  man,  of  course  not  Oxenford,  he  called 
a  '  little  scrub,'  and  he  had  a  pleasant  word  for  Clement 
Scott." 
"  Feb.  ISth. 

**  Dined  at  H(eather)  Biggs,  a  curious  and  pleasant 
party.  It  was  made  for  Miss  Florence  Lees,  an 
interesting  young  lady,  just  arrived.  She  has  given 
herself  to  the  Miss  Nightingale  sort  of  work,  and  was 
with  the  German  ambulances  in  the  War,  is  something 
in  the  same  way  at  Havre,  and  is  going  to  America 
to  study  their  nursing  system.  Yet,  as  I  told  her,  she 
seems  just  the  woman  to  do  nursing  of  another  kind 
and  be  very  happy.  If  H.  W.  were  handsome  and 
clever,  she  would  be  somewhat  like  this  girl.  Took  her 
down — ^by  the  way,  she  has  pretty  eyes.  Said  she  had 
wanted  to  meet  me.  Had  seen  an  autograph  letter  of 
mine  to  some  child,  with  bad  spelling  and  small  '  i's  * — 
I  don't  know  what  this  could  be.  Inclined  to  swear 
eternal  friendship  with  her,  but  didn't." 
"  March  3rd. 

''  Alderman*  has  broken  the  little  coloured  glass  bell 

♦  The  maid. 

534 


"FUN"   VERSUS   "PUNCH" 

that  stood  on  sideboard.  I  don't  think  it  was  of  much 
account,  but,  on  matter  of  principle,  I  stormed. 
Considering  I  myself  smashed  a  gas-globe  in  my  bed- 
room the  other  night,  I  suppose  one  ought  to  be 
merciful,  but  it  won't  do.'' 
"  March  Ath. 

"  Papers  choked  with  opening  of  debate  on  the  Bill 
for  turning  Irish  clowns  into  undergraduates.*     I  wish 
they     were     turned    into     swine,    who    should    run 
violently,  etc." 
"  March  5th. 

"  We  had  unusually  hard  work  to  shape  the  cut, 
which  we  had  resolved  should  be  about  Plimsoll  and 
the  shipowners  who  send  rotten  ships  to  sea  for  the 
sake  of  assurance.  The  diihculty  was  that  in  Fun 
there  was  a  coarse  and  brutal  thing  on  the  subject, 
which  Tenniel  thought  debarred  him  from  using  a 
skeleton  J  wanted  by  us.  I  should  have  utterly  ignored 
the  rubbish,  and  T.  would  have  effaced  it  by  his  own 
cut^  but  as  he  had  a  feeling  about  it  we  were  obliged 
tO  invent  a  sentimental  treatment.  Not  altogether 
satisfied,  but  I  daresay  he'll  do  a  good  thing,  f  Drank 
Kiki  his  b.d.  to-morrow." 
"  March  6th. 

"  Wrote  Kiki  a  kindly  meant  note  on  his  b.-d.,  and 

*  The  Irish  Education  Bill.  Gladstone  was  eventually  beaten 
by  three  in  a  House  of  571. 

I  The  result  was  not  very  satisfactory,  and  Fun  for  once  scored 
off  its  venerable  rival.  Plimsoll  had  startled  the  country  by 
declaring  that  out  of  the  2,700  Hves  lost  at  sea  annually  by  the 
Mercantile  Marine,  four-fifths  were  needlessly  thrown  away.  He 
found  cases  of  seamen  sentenced  to  prison  because  they  refused  to 
sail  in  crazy  ships  which,  when  they  put  to  sea,  never  touched  a  port 
but  went  down  in  mid-ocean.  Eventually,  through  his  exertions, 
though  not  without  violent  opposition,  the  Merchant  Shipping  Bill 
was  passed. 

535 


SHIRLEY   BROOKS 

told  him  that  his  talents  had  been  much  vindicated 
this  year,  through  what  had  seemed  a  discouragement 
(I  meant  his  being  obhged  to  draw  large,  and  have  the 
work  reduced,  for  the  wood,  by  photography) — I  think 
he'll  be  pleased — he  is  sensitive,  hut  very  affectionate — 
why  hut?  Well,  easily  put  out — yet  we  have  never 
had  a  disagreeable  word.  I  remember,  before  he 
regularly  joined,  M.  L.  gave  him  something  of  mine  to 
illustrate,  a  '  relic  clock,'  some  Papist  tomfoolery  of 
the  Q.  of  Spain,  I  think,  and  I  thought  the  idea  frittered 
in  the  picture,  and  had  some  of  the  detail  cut  out. 
M.  L.  said  he  was  '  cocky.'  As  a  young  fellow  with 
brain  should  be.  I  hate  your  Blifils.  He  got  my 
letter  in  the  evening,  and  instantly  returned  a 
picture  of  himself,  holding  the  said  letter,  and  pointing 
to  a  likeness  of  me,  in  his  heart,  inscribed  *  Cor  Cordium ' 
and  below  '  Enshrined.'  " 
"  March  1th. 

*'  Lord  Chamberlain  has  stopped  a  piece  at  the 
'  Court '  Theatre,  by  Labouchere,  in  which  Gladstone, 
Lowe  and  Ayrton  are  introduced.  .  .  .  (Later  it  was 
sanctioned,  but  with  emasculation.)  ...  * 

*'  Mr.  G.,  my  Irish  contributor,  had  called,  and 
graciously  announced  his  intention  to  call  again  at 
10.30.  Wanted  my  weed,  or  would  have  gone  to  bed. 
He  did  not  come  till  11,  but  to  make  up,  he  stayed  till 
past  12 — I  gave  him  liquid,  of  course.  And  all  he 
wanted  was  to  know  whether  he  should  write  something 
furious  about  the  Lord  Chamberlain's  '  tyranny ' 
above  mentioned.  This  means  that  he  is  in  a  pubHc 
office,  and  the  manager  of  the  '  Court '  is  in  another,  so 
I  suppose  there's  camaraderie.  However,  I  would 
have  none  of  that,  but  was  very  civil  to  him ;  rather 
Uked  him." 

*  I  think  Shirley  must  have  been  referring  to  "  The  Happy  Lord/* 
>vhich  was  not  by  Mr.  Labouchere,  but  by  Robert  Reece. 


TOOLE'S   DELIGHTFUL  TOMFOOLERY 

"  March  15th. 

"  Whitefriars.  After  work,  went  to  morning  per- 
formance at  the  Gaiety.  It  was  to  see  Toole,  in  a  piece 
in  which  he  introduces  real  and  mock  jugghng.  Utter 
tomfoolery,  but  some  of  it  made  me  roar,  from  its 
absolute  idiotcy,  as  when  he  blows  out  a  candle,  and 
begs  the  spectators  not  to  regard  this  as  a  common 
feat,  for  it  has  been  the  study  of  a  life.  He  saw  me, 
and  in  the  course  of  the  business  he  produced  from  a  hat 
a  copy  of  Punchj  which  he  must  have  sent  for,  and 
presented  it.  '  This  may  have  interest  for  yow.  Sir.' 
I  felt  like  a  great  boy  all  thro',  but  I  don't  know  why 
one  shouldn't  laugh. 

**  .  .  .  Note,  never  be  in  a  hurry  to  abuse  a  person 
for  stupidity.  I  blew  up  an  apparently  stupid,  but 
really  good  and  willing  boy  at  the  hotel,  and  then 
learnt  from  Liz  that  he  is  deaf.  I  must  make  it  up  to 
him  ;  luckily  there  is  one  way  of  doing  this  with  the 
lower  order.     But  remember,  however. 

''  Got  new  Bankers'  book.  The  old  one,  which  has 
been  in  use  since  May,  1867,  shows  credit  to  about 
£8,600,  but  I  have  earned  much  that  did  not  go  thro* 
G.'s.  New  one  does  not  open  with  a  balance,  but 
there  is  one,  besides  much  due  to  me  elsewhere,  so 
thafs  not  worth  noting.     D.G.'' 

S.  B.  TO  George  du  Maurier. 

"6  Kent  Terrace, 

"  Regent's  Park, 

"  N.W. 
"  S.  Patrick's  Day  in  the  afternoon^ 
"  (March  I7th),  1873. 

"  My  dear  Kiki, 

*'  I  don't  write  to  ask  for  news,  because  I  know 
that  if  there  were  any  I  should  have  heard.  *  Then/ 
says  you,  '  what  do  you  write  for  ?  '     Well,  just  to  say 

537 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

I  trust  all  is  going  on  as  well  as  can  be  in  the  circum- 
stances. And  also  to  say  that  I  think  your  '  kitten 
cut  \  is  one  of  the  very  best  you  have  ever  done. 
I  have  shown  it  to  a  few  of  the  judgmatical  sort,  and 
they  are  enthusiastic.  Whether  C.  K.  is  equally 
enchanted  with  his  portrait,  has  to  be  heard — he  ought 
to  be.* 

''  I  suppose  we  shall  hardly  see  you  on  Wednesday, 
unless  — .  Your  health,  and  that  of  your  entire  house- 
hold, actual  and  possible,  were  duly  remembered  last 
dinner,  and  will  be  again. 

''  I  dined  last  night  at  Triibner's,  to  meet  Leland 
et  uXj  on  their  return  from  Cairo.  He  told  many 
stories,  but  for  quiet  fun,  of  the  American  sort,  I  think 
this  good.  A  man  out  in  some  black  State  used  to 
come  among  his  friends,  every  morning,  in  a  fresh 
rage,  about  some  grievance  or  scandal  of  40  years  back, 
and  this  he  talked  about  all  day,  a  new  one  coming  on 
the  next.  It  turned  out  that  he  had  found  a  lot  of  his 
father* s  old  diaries,  and  every  night  worked  himself 
up  with  narratives  the  old  man  had  compiled  years 
and  years  back.  'Tis  an  odd  notion  that  only  an 
American  would  have  thought  of.  I  don't  know  that 
it  may  even  seem  funny  to  you,  but  I  fancy  I  see  it 
worked  out  by  an  actor  Hke  poor  Jeffreson. 

*'  I've  now  had  no  news  since  Tuesday,  but  it  is  not 
impossible  that  my  folks  may  have  gone  to  Rome. 
I  circular-noted  them  with  the  means,  should  they 
be  so  inclined,  and  Florence,  whence  they  last  wrote, 
is  no  great  railway  distance. 

''  I  actually  went  to  see  Toole  in  his  farce  of  mock 
magic,  on  Saturday  afternoon.  I  was  near,  and  in  the 
course  of  performance  he  pulled  a  Punch  out  of  an 

♦  Vide  "  Scenes  of  Club  Life,"  Punch,  March  22nd,  p.  117,  with 
an  excellent  portrait  of  Keene  in  the  right-hand  corner. 

538 


CHARLES   KINGSLEY 

empty  hat,  and  handed  it  to  me.  '  This  may  have 
interest  for  you^  Sir/  he  said  respectfully  and  gravely. 
Tis  wild  fooling,  but  I  laughed  ;  he  blew  out  a  candle, 
and  then  begged  the  audience  not  to  regard  this  as 
a  common  feat,  '  it  had  been  the  study  of  a  life.* 
''  Kindest  regards  to  Mrs.  du  Maurier. 

''  Ever  yours, 
"  Kiki,  Esq."  "  S.  B. 

"  March  25ih.     (Diary.) 

''  To  Crowdy's  to  d.  to  meet,  first  time.  Canon 
Kingsley  ;  very  delightful — very  like  Gladstone.  His 
stammer  not  much  at  dinner,  but  in  the  evening  when 
he  naturally  sought  to  speak  more  eagerly,  it  was 
marked.  Says  he  has  made  himself  a  voice — speaks 
from  his  lower  depths,  and  holds  his  upper  lip  tightly 
down,  working  with  the  under  one — so  does  the 
Bishop  of  Winchester.  Has  abandoned  his  pretty 
house  at  Eversley,  and  gone  to  Harrow,  where  a  son 
is  at  school.  ...  I  was  going  about  11  but  as  he 
could  not  go  to  his  train  till  near  12,  he  told  me  '  not, 
on  the  first  meeting,  to  lower  myself  in  his  opinion  by 
keeping  good  hours.'  So  I  stayed,  and  smoked  more. 
He  is  always  smoking  a  pipe,  he  says.  He  knows 
Trinidad  well,  and  seemed  to  know  the  name  of 
Walkinshaw." 

S.  B.  TO  Miss  Matthews. 

"  5th  April,  1873. 
"...  I  saw  Wills  (Charles  I)  last  night.  He  is 
rehearsing  *  Eugene  Aram  !  '  I  don't  like  the  subject 
and  told  him  not  to  expect  another  great  success. 
To  sweeten  this,  I  made  him  a  present  of  a  long- 
cherished  idea  of  mine  for  a  play,  and  it  pleased  him 
much.  I  don't  think  he  had  ever  heard  of  the  man. 
However,  I  told  him  where  to  get  information.  It  is 
John  Law,  the  picturesque  Scot,  duellist,  lady  killer, 

539 


SHIRLEY   BROOKS 

financier,  exile,  who  turned  the  heads  of  the  Parisians  and 
was  expelled  in  1720.  There's  a  love  story  connected 
with  it.  Just  the  thing  for  Irving,  if  done  properly. 
''  I  have  to-day  received  a  written  proposal  that 
I  should  go  to  America  and  lecture.  Am  promised  a 
'  lucrative  *  engagement." 

A  fortnight  later  he  went  to  the  Lyceum  first-night 
of  Wills's  play  and  wrote  to  Miss  Matthews  : — 

"...  *  Eugene  Aram  '  is  beautifully  mounted.  First 
scene  charming,  Irving  acts  very  finely.  But  His  no 
play.  There  is  scarcely  a  situation — he  is  all  and 
everything.  Except  to  watch  his  really  fine  art  I  don't 
want  to  see  it  again.  There  were  the  usual  noises  at 
the  end,  but  during  the  piece  there  was  very  little 
applause.  Wills  can't  write  a  play  if  form  means 
anything.  Irving  was  black-balled  at  the  '  Garrick ' 
yesterday.  I  did  not  know  that  he  was  coming  up 
or  would  have  been  there  to  do  my  possible  to  prevent 
this.  It  is  a  mistake  and  bad  taste.  '  We  are  too 
many  actors,'  I  hear  some  of  the  prigs  say.  Why,  the 
Club  was  specially  intended  to  give  respectable  actors 
admission  to  good  social  life.  I  shall  say  my  say  the 
first  opportunity  and  not  very  mildly." 

S.  B.  TO  Miss  Fergusson.* 

"  6  Kent  Terrace, 

"  Regent's  Park, 

"  N.W. 
"  Good  Friday  {April  llth),  1873. 

My  dear  Kate, 

(But,  being  Scottish,  you  don't  know  what 
Good  Friday  means.  Never  mind.)  I  send  you  the 
photograph  you  are  good  enough  to  wish  for,  and  you 

*  Daughter  of  the  celebrated  surgeon,  Sir  William  Fergusson, 
Bart. 

MO 


''WE   PAMPER  WOMEN  TOO   MUCH'* 

should  have  had  it  sooner,  but  that  I  had  mislaid  the 

packet,    and   have   discovered   it   to-day   only,    after 

a  resolute  search.     The  likeness  is  hardly  pensive  and 

melancholy  enough,  but  'tis  the  best  we  have.     I  have 

stuck  on  a  signature,  but  you  can  easily  take  it  off 

if  you  do  not  like  it. 

''  I  did  not  meet  you,  as  I  had  hoped  to  do,  at  any 

of  the  studios.     But  in  truth  I  did  not  go  to  many,  for 

now  that  the  Academy  gives  us  a  real  private  view, 

a  great   deal  of  trouble   and  non- candour  is   saved. 

Frith's,  Ward's,  Elmore's,  AnsdeU's,  Marks's,  O'Neil's, 

were  about  all  I  went  to.     Sir  Edwin  will  have  two 

pictures  in,  painted  a  good  while   ago,   of  course.* 

Elmore  has  an  *  Eve '  whom  I  like  muchly. 
*  *  *  * 

*'  .  .  .  A  celebrated  artist  made  me  laugh  last 
night.  We  were  dining  at  Sir  C.  Taylor's,  who  gives 
one  of  the  best  dinners  (round  table,  small  party,  no 
bores)  going,  and  the  artist  had  his  mouth  full  of  pate 
de  foie  gras,  and  was  just  putting  a  glass  of  lovely  still 
champagne  to  his  lips  when  he  paused  to  say,  in  answer 

to  something,  '  I  tell  you  we  all  pamper  women  a  ( ) 

deal  too  much.'  Then  he  drank,  and  winked  because 
the  wine  was  so  good.  I  won't  tell  you  who  it  was, 
because  I  won't  set  you  against  him.  .  .  . 

"  Did  I  ever  tell  you  a  rhyme  that  has  occurred  to 
me  (it  was  Thackeray's)  in  reference  to  a  recent  death  ? 

"  *  This  is  the  Countess  GuiccioU, 

Who  admired  Lord  Byron  habitually.' 

''So  no  more  at  present  from 

"  Yours  ever  faithfully, 

"  Shirley  Brooks. 
"  Miss  K.  H.  Fergusson." 

♦  Landseer,  who  died  in  the  following  October,  had  been  too  ill 
to  paint  for  some  time. 

541 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

*'  April  12th. 

'*  Was  called  on  by  Mr.  Redpath  and  Mr.  Nast, 
Americans.*  Told  them  I  could  not  go  to  America, 
having  no  man  to  me  what  I  was  to  M.  Lemon,  but  some 
day  I  hoped  to  do  so.  R.  said  I  should  be  very  well 
received,  and  that  my  name  was  very  well  known. 
Told  me  E.  Y.  had  been  a  failure  as  a  lecturer,  and  that 
my  lecture  f  had  been  the  one  '  that  held  him  up.'  '* 

"  Afril  21s/. 

*'  Miss  Emily  Leith  has  helped  me  into  a  mull.  She 
sent  me  some  things  of  her  own  some  time  back,  and 
with  them  some  very  good  nonsense  verses  in  MS., 
which  I  also  took  to  be  hers,  but  which  she  says  she 
told  me  were  copied.  If  she  did,  I  overlooked  the 
statement,  and  having  touched  them  up,  used  them 
this  week,  as  they  fitted  a  cut  of  Sambourne's.  Such 
things  will  happen,  but  I  don't  do  them  often,  usually 
eschewing  outsiders." 

"  April  26th. 

'*  I  inserted  some  verse  sent  me  by  Emily  Leith, 
overlooking  her  distinct  statement  that  she  had  copied 
them.  So  down  come  letters  from  Gilbert,  who  wrote 
them  in  Fun  10  years  ago,  Tom  Hood  and  Burnand. 
Made  the  amende  and  wrote  Gilbert.  Mea  culpa,  and 
nobody  else's.  J 

*  Asking  him  to  go  on  a  lecturing  tour  in  America. 
t  Edmund  Yates's  lecture,  fashioned  out  of  Shiriey's  Quarterly 
Review  article  without  Shiriey's  sanction, 

X  Vide  Punch,  April  26th,  p.  176.     The  first  verse  ran  :— 
"  Sing  for  the  garish  eye, 

When  the  moonless  brandlings  cling ! 
Let  the  froddering  crooner  cry  , 

And  the  braddled  sapster  sing, 
542 


AN   EDITORIAL  BUNGLE 

S.  B.  TO  Miss  Fergusson. 

**  6  Kent  Terrace, 

**  Regent's  Park, 

"  N.W. 
"  29/A  April,  1873. 

*'  My  dear  Kate, 

"  I  am  much  too  proud  of  the  beautiful  cap  to 
express  my  feehngs  properly  as  yet,  but  I  hope  to  do 
so  when  we  meet,  and  when  I  have  toned  myself  down 
a  little.  When  we  laughed  about  presents,  at  that 
dehghtful  dinner  at  your  house,  I  certainly  never 
thought  seriously  of  inviting  you  to  take  so  much 
trouble,  but  the  cap  is  so  charming  that  I  quite  forgive 
myself.  My  household  esteem  me  much  more  highly 
than  they  did,  and  I  bear  myself  haughtily.  All 
thanks  to  you. 

'*  .  .  .  Do  you  see  that  Macready  is  gone  ?  *  80.  He 
retired  in  1851,  so  I  suppose  that  you  never  saw  him — 
he  was  hardly  the  actor  that  a  very  young  child  would 
be  taken  to  see — (I  assume  the  possibility  only 
because  you  told  me  a  date.)  But  ask  Sir  William 
about  him,  and  his  Macbeth.  Curiously,  I  meant  to 
see  him  play  Richard  III,  which  he  seldom  did,  but 
this  performance  was  fixed  for  one  of  my  birthdays 
years  and  years  back,  and  my  mother  had  a  dinner  in 
my  honour,  so  I  could  not  go.     But  that  night  Macready 


For,  never  and  never  again 

Will  the  tottering  beechlings  play. 
For  bratticed  wrackers  are  singing  aloud. 
And  the  throngers  croon  in  May  !  " 
Fortunately  the  verses  had  been  given  flattering  prominence  on 
their  own  merit,  and  this  fact  doubtless  made  it  the  easier  for 
[Sir]  W.  S.  Gilbert  to  forgive  whenPMWcA  hastened  in  his  next  number 
to  confess  "  Blunderavi." 

*  He  died  April  27th.  >;  ,       i.    . 

543 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

was  so  enraged  with  Alfred  Bunn,  the  manager  of 
Drury  Lane,  for  letting  him  play  only  3  acts,  and  those 
the  weakest,  that  after  the  curtain  fell,  he  ran  into 
Bunn's  room,  and  knocked  him  over,  chair  and  all. 
I  think  he  had  to  pay  ;^  100  or  so  for  this  levity.  I  used 
to  meet  him  at  C.  Dickens* s.  He  was  the  best  tragedian 
I  ever  saw,  and  yet  far  from  being  all  one  wanted. 

"  It  seems  a  trifle  warmer  to-day,  but  the  cowl  on 
my  chimney  howls,  I  suppose  in  indignation  at  the 
E.  wind.  I  have  been  howHng  at  it  for  a  month  or 
more,  but  it  does  no  good. 

''  Believe  me,  my  dear  Kate, 

''  Yours  most  faithfully, 

''  Shirley  Brooks. 
*'  Miss  Kate  Fergusson." 

S.  B.  TO  Miss  Matthews. 

''  29th  April,  1873. 
"...  Do  you  see  that  Macready  died  on  Sunday  ? 
I  think  I  saw  him  in  all  his  great  parts.  His  power  was 
tremendous — his  delivery  people  differed  about — he 
liked  to  speak  his  syllables  in  a  detached  way,  yet  he 
could  be  very  musical  at  times  as  in  Prospero,  but 
I  must  write  some  recollections  of  him,  so  I  will  not 
give  you  fractional  instalments.'* 

Ditto  to  Ditto. 

"  May  m,  1873. 

*'....  I  fear  the  *  Hamlet '  is  a  mess.  I  could 
not  go,  having  to  attend  Committee  at '  Garrick '  to  see 
that  Tenniel  was  elected,  as,  of  course,  he  instantly  was, 
but  I  never  run  a  risk  where  a  friend  is  concerned. 
I  hear  Hamlet  himself  was  very  bad.  What  idiotic 
speeches  they  made  at  the  Academy  dinner.  Even 
Granville,  who  is  usually  happy,  broke  into  rubbish 
under  the  influence  of  the  circumambient  drivel. 
However,  the  speeches  are  good  enough  for  the  show.** 

544 


PROTEST  AGAINST  STAGE  INDECENCIES 

"  May  3rd.     (Diary.) 

'*  Committee  '  G/*  We  had  some  talk,  in  reference 
to  certain  blackballing,  and  most  of  us  thought  that 
we  owed  it  to  one  another  to  give  a  hint  when  a  black- 
ball was  deserved.  TroUope  thought  not,  and  in 
strictness  he  is  right,  but  we  ought  to  be  able  to  be 
confidential.  When  TennieFs  name  was  read,  there 
was  a  general  cry  that  we  *  did  not  need  to  hear  any- 
thing about  him.'  He  was,  of  course,  unanimously 
elected.     Wrote  and  told  him.*' 

On  May  7th  the  following  letter  appeared  in    the 
Times  over  the  transparent  initials  K.  T.  R.  P.  : — 
*' '  Vox  Parentis.* 
''  To  the  Editor  of  the  Times. 

''  Sir, — Your  theatrical  critic  writes  thoughtfully, 
and  as  becomes  a  gentleman,  and  therefore  I  ask  leave 
to  offer  a  word  in  answer  to  his  deftly  turned  sarcasm 
on  those  who  think  it  '  wicked  *  to  go  to  a  '  theatre.* 
May  I  vindicate  my  own  common  sense  by  saying  that 
an  adequate  performance  of  one  of  the  great  plays  of 
Shakespeare,  or  of  another  true  dramatist,  is  an 
intellectual  pleasure  which  I  am  most  glad,  when 
permitted,  to  take  in  company  with  my  children  ? 
But  I  happen  to  be  one  of  the  people  called  Christians, 
and  I  am  also  in  possession  of  the  use  of  my  eyes. 
I  see  in  every  picture-shop  window  photographs  which 
show  me  the  real  '  attractions  *  of  the  '  theatres,*  and 
I  see  in  the  managerial  puffs  the  names  of  the  originals 
of  the  photographs.  Also,  Sir,  I  have  witnessed  several 
of  the  performances  in  which  these  persons  exhibit 
themselves,  and  I  do  not  know  whether  the  eye  is  more 
offended  at  the  elaborate  indecency  than  the  ear  is 
insulted  by  the  vulgar  elocution.     Such  representations 

*  Garrick  Club.  

545 

36— (2297) 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

are  artistically  as  much  beneath  contempt  as  morally 
suggestive  of  compassion  for  the  performers,  not  to 
speak  of  some  indignation  that  educated  and  responsible 
people  should  sanction  such  exhibitions.  Therefore, 
I  refuse  to  take  my  children  to  a  '  theatre '  while  it  is 
a  shop  for  the  display  of  ignorance  and  immorality. 
To  this  definition  there  are  two  or  three  exceptions, 
which  I  am  happy  to  recognize,  and  I  only  wish  that 
at  the  exceptional  establishments  the  literary  standard 
were  higher.  I,  for  one,  am  very  grateful  to  Mr.  Tom 
Taylor  for  his  effort  in  favour  of  the  nobler  drama, 
and  I  wish  him  all  success.  Your  critic  (if  I  may  again 
remark  on  his  article)  appears  to  me  to  have  judged 
Saturday's  performance*  most  fairly,  but  it  was  im- 
possible not  to  see  that  over-fatigue  and  nervousness 
were  hindering  several  of  the  actors. 

''  Your  obedient  servant, 

"  May  5th."  '  ^-  ^'  ^'  ^' 

"  June  1st. 

*'  Mrs.  Ross  Church  said  that  the  spirit  of  W.  M. 
Thackeray  had  appeared  to  her,  and  told  her  not  to 
work  too  hard.  If  we  remember  things  of  this  world, 
elsewhere,  I  should  like  to  ask  him  about  this,  but  we 
shall,  I  trust,  have  better  things  to  discuss.'* 

"  June  6th. 

*'  This  came  into  my  head,  but  certainly  with  no 
cynical  feeling,  as  I  was  going  to  bed  to-night. 
''  Cynical  Thought. 

*'  A  Man  is  never  so  Old  in  the  outside  world  as  he[^is 
made  to  feel  when  in  the  bosom  of  his  family." 

"  June  9th. 

"  Wrote  Low  that  Punch  was  going  to  d.  at  the 
Alexandra,  and  that  I  would  report  on  the  cuisine. 

♦  "  Hamlet." 

546 


BURNING  OF  ALEXANDRA   PALACE 

But — rhomme  propose — this  day,  just  before  one,  a 
beast  of  a  plumber  set  fire  to  the  Alexandra  Palace,  and 
in  a  very  short  time  it  was  utterly  destroyed.  Bad 
supply  of  water.  Am  rather  sorry  I  did  not  go  and 
see  the  place.     It  is  to  be  rebuilt,  we  are  told." 

"  June  \Oth. 

""  Papers,  of  course,  full  of  the  Alexandra  catastrophe. 
Just  the  same  carelessness  that  nearly  destroyed 
Canterbury  Cathedral.  The  lower  orders  are  raging 
at  the  present  Master  and  Servant  law,  which  lets  the 
latter  be  imprisoned,  as  he  has  no  money.  But  I  think 
that  in  a  case  of  brutal  carelessness,  like  the  two  above 
cases,  the  offence  should  be  felony.  There  would  be 
fewer  fires  if  a  sullen,  stupid  ruffian  or  so  were  sent 
to  penal  servitude.'' 

''June  nth. 

''  Great  trouble  over  cut,  as  it  has  to  be  about  the 
Shah.*     A  new  actress  is  coming  out ;  she  is  a  mistress 

of the  artist.    T.  T.  declares  there  has  been  nothing 

like  her  since  Siddons,  but  he  is  lavish  in  praise  of  those 
he  likes.  Not  educated.  And  as  she  is  a  Magdalen, 
only  not  repentant,  she  will  not  be  taken  into  drawing- 
rooms  and  made  a  fool  of,  like  some  of  'em.  Called 
for  E.  at  Mrs.  Y.'s,  Mrs.  Boucicault  said  I  was  looking 
quite  young.  This  is  the  only  humbug  good  with  men 
who  know  they  are  old." 

"  June  18lh. 

"  Rain  in  the  night.  Day  of  the  Persian  Shah's 
arrival — one  hears  his  name  till  one  is  ready  to  d. 

*  The  Shah  had  been  entertained  lavishly  at  St.  Petersburg,  before 
coming  to  London,  and  was  supposed  to  be  wavering  between 
Russia  and  England.  Sir  John  Tenniel's  cartoon,  **  Fehne  Friends," 
was  a  highly  successful  representation  of  the  position  of  affairs,  full 
of  suggestion  and  at  the  same  time  a  delightful  decoration  of  the 
page. 

547 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

him.*  Very  gloomy,  indeed,  while  I  write,  11  a.m. 
But  things  improved.  He  came,  and  had  sunshine 
until  he  reached  London,  but  when  he  came  out  at 
Charing  Cross,  the  rain  descended  in  a  flood.  The 
great  guns  of  the  ships  seemed  to  have  roared  nobly. 
I  went  into  town  at  2.30,  and  to  Co  vent  Garden  Opera, 
where  I  laid  out  a  guinea  for  a  front  seat  for  Emily 
in  the  Floral  Hall  on  Saturday.  She  takes  so  much 
interest  in  him  that  if  the  price  had  been  five  I  should 
have  paid  it — for  my  own  part  I  do  not  suppose  I  shall 
see  him  at  all." 


"  June  21s/. 

"  Left  at  4  and  to  ^  Bedford.'  The  Shah  was  to  go 
to  C.  G.,  and  the '  Shakespeare '  f  gave  beauteously  on  the 
door  of  the  Floral  Hall.  I  take  it  that  I  should  not 
have  had  the  room,  for  there  were  many  friends  of  the 
family  at  other  windows,  but  that  they  thought  soldiers 
would  line  the  way  from  the  carriages  to  the  door,  and 
nothing  would  be  seen.  However,  the  police  cleared 
away  the  mob,  and  there  was  no  lining.  A  mounted 
peeler's  horse  fell  with  him,  and  Dr.  Vine  brought  him 
into  the  ^  Shakespeare ' — a  fine  fellow — I  hope  not  much 
hurt,  but  he  complained  of  his  head.  Afterwards 
Albert  Macklin  and  I  stood  at  the  window,  saw  the 
humours  of  the  mob,  were  kind  to  an  old  lady  who  had 
no  business  there,  but  we  let  her  stand  on  the  sill,  and 
we  saw  all  the  people — Princes,  Princesses,  Czarevitch, 
and  ultimately  Nassr-ed-Din.  That  is,  he  passed,  of 
course,  before  my  eyes,  but  I  was  attending  to  some- 
thing else,  and  the  vision  made  no  impression.  I  may 
say  I  did  not  see  him.  Very  soon  after  came  Emily 
and  Mr.  Matthews — her  place  had  been  a  good  one, 

*  Those  who  remember  the  catchword  of  the  day,  "  Have  you 
seen  the  Shah  ?  "  will  sympathize  with  Shirley, 
t  The  "  Shakespeare  "  Room  at  the  "  Bedford." 

548 


i 


"HAVE   YOU  SEEN   THE  SHAH?" 

and  she  had  seen  all  the  sight,  and  had  been  there^  the 

great  thing  with  women,  who  are  too  honest  to  say 

they  have  when  they  haven't.'* 

•*  June  25th. 

''  Whitefriars.     Small    party.     We    had    to    do    a 

conventional  cut  about  the  Shah — we  were  slow  at  it, 

and  I  suggested  one  at  last,  but  did  not  much  like  it.* 

It  will  happen,  sometimes,  that  I    am  not   inventive 

and  T.  is  not  receptive,  but  we  understand  one  another, 

and  things  get  right  in  the  end.     Health  of  new  volume. 

Preface  very  much  liked,  except  by  the  author. 
♦  *  *  * 

*'  W.  H.  B.  had  been  dining  at  Dilke's,  and  heard 
that  there  are  three  pubhcans  on  the  jury,  who  are  not 
likely  to  find  Orton  guilty.  I  hope  this  is  a  canard. 
The  Advertiser,  the  publican  organ,  backs  the  beast  up." 

S.  B.  TO  Percival  Leigh. 

"  6  Kent  Terrace, 

"  Regent's  Park, 

"  N.W. 
"  June  leth,  1873. 
"  S.  Fargeau  (who  was  this  saint  ?). 

"  My  dear  Leigh, 

''It  is  very  kind  of  you  to  take  so  much  thought 
for  me,  and  you  will  not  be  surprised  to  hear  that  my 
wife  thanks  you  for  your  letter  even  more  heartily 
than  I  do,  if  possible.  She  suggests  that  you  may 
like  to  see  Dr.  Quain's  prescription,  which  therefore 
I  enclose.     It  was  not  written  for  me,  but  for  a  lady 

*  "  More  Cry  Than  Wool."  Punch  compares  the  lavish  sum  spent 
over  entertaining  the  Shah  at  the  Mansion  House  with  the  beggarly 
sum  collected  on  Hospital  Sunday,  first  established  this  year. 
Shirley,  of  course,  found  an  adaptable  line  from  Shakespeare, 
"  They  wiU  not  give  a  doit  to  reheve  a  lame  beggar,  they  will  lay 
out  ten  to  see  (a  hve  Persian)"  ;  in  the  original,  of  course,  "  a  dead 
Indian." 

549 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

whose  trouble  he  ascribed  to  wind  and  ^  enlarged  * 
(I  think)  liver.  Hence  the  foL  argent^  a  delicacy  the 
Doctors  don't  think  of  in  my  case. 

"  I  dined  '  with  bishops  and  archbishops  and  all  the 
company  of  Heaven '  on  Saturday.  The  dinner  was 
beautiful,  and  we  had  plenty  of  elbow  room,  and  that 
admirable  waiting,  by  assiduous  but  not  bustling 
menials,  which  the  City  understands.  The  speaking 
was  not  particularly  good  (how  could  it  be  ?),  but  the 
Primate  made  a  good  retort  about  Zadkiel.  But  the 
speech,  high  comedy,  was  Dr.  Wilberforce's,  which  is 
not  reported. 

"  This  weather  feels  like  summer,  though  it  does 
not  look  like  it.  But  after  Saturday  the  days  begin  to 
shorten  again  ! 

''  I  say  !  We  quite  forgot,  when  making  the  Cat, 
that  the  young  Russian  Bear  is  to  be  here  with  the  Cat ! 
We  shall  be  charged  with  inhospitality.  Mea  culpa ^ 
but  I  don't  feel  much  afflicted.* 

'*  Do  you  know  how  to  estimate  the  difference 
between  the  Farhenhiet  (spelt  wrong)  and  Reaumur 
thermometers  ?  A  lady  has  brought  me  a  very  pretty 
paper-weight  from  Salzburg,  with  a  thermometer 
inserted,  but  of  course  with  the  R.  scale.  But,  I 
suppose  I  can  find  out  in  the  Cyclopaedia.  Don't  take 
any  trouble. 

**  I  suppose  we  shall  meet  at  the  4.8  train  on 
Wednesday,  unless  you  go  by  the  river. 

**  Ever,  my  dear  Leigh, 
"  Yours  faithfuUy, 

"S.  B. 
"  P.  L.,  Esq." 

♦  In  the  cartoon,  "  Feline  Friends,"  the  Russian  Bear  is  repre- 
sented chained  to  a  rock  and  raging  at  the  friendship  of  the  British 
Lion  and  the  Persian  Cat. 

550 


i 


A  SCRIPTURAL  MISTAKE 

"  June  30th. 

'*  Heard  from  Kiki  whom  I  had  chaffed  about  a 
blunder  touching  Pharaoh's  daughter  hiding  Moses 
(with  a  stick,  see  cut),  but  he  sends  me  Lord 
WharncHffe's  letter,  showing  that  he  made  the 
mistake."* 

"  July  1st. 

''  Got  out  a  good  strong  Church  cut — my  invention 
and  my  title,  the  latter  much  admired/' f 

"  /w/y  6th.  (Staying  at  Gadshill  with  Charles  Dickens,  the  younger.) 

"  C.  D.  drove  us  to  Cobham,  where  I  had  never  been. 
First,  church,  and  curious  almshouse  quadrangle — 
then  to  the  Park,  and  E.,  I,  and  Marley  were  to  walk 
across,  and  be  picked  up  at  the  other  side.  M.  said  she 
knew  the  way,  and  C.  said  that  if  she  did  not  she 
deserved  to  be  smacked.  We  went  off,  and  the  walk 
was  lovely — glorious  trees,  fine  old  Elizabethan  house. 
Hideous  mausoleum — never  consecrated  J  Then,  at 
the  next  turning,  it  was  made  clear  that  poor  M. 
deserved  the  said  smacking.     We  went  wrong.     She 

*  Pharaoh's  daughter,  of  course,  found  Moses.  Fortunately, 
Shirley  was  just  in  time  and  Moses's  mother  was  substituted  : — 

"  Uncle.     '  Now,  how  did  the  Mother  of  Moses  hide  him  ?  ' 

*'  Niece.     *  With  a  stick.  Uncle.'  " 

—Punch,  July  5th,  1873. 

I  The  title  was  "  The  '  Liberation '  Society,"  and  the  cartoon 
represented  the  two  Archbishops  considering  the  petition  of  480 
Church  of  England  priests  in  favour  of  Auricular  Confession,  whilst 
they  trample  under  foot  an  Anti-Ritualistic  rejoinder.  Edward 
Miall,  the  editor  of  the  Nonconformist,  loquitur, 

"  Delighted,  your  Graces,  to  find  you  so  earnestly  co-operating 
with  me  for  the  destruction  of  the  State  Church  !  !  " 

I  Louis  Napoleon's  burial  place.  His  remains  were  afterwards 
removed  to  Famborough. 

551 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

did  all  she  could,  and  ran  about  heroically.  At  length 
we  got  out  by  Wright's  farm,  but  no  carriage.  Then 
I  was  in  a  way,  for  my  brevity  of  breath  cut  me  like 
a  knife.  The  ladies  walked  on  in  search  of  carriage, 
and  I  lingered,  walked  a  little,  suffered  a  deal,  and  was 
enraged  with  everything,  especially  a  d.  dove  that 
would  coo  when  I  was  ready  to  kuss — parodied  Burns 
'  How  can  ye  coo,  ye  cursed  doo,  When  Fm  so  hot,  and 
scarce  can  swear.'  Finally,  the  carriage  came  up,  they 
had  waited  a  long  while,  and  then  supposed  we  had 
gone  to  Strood.  Home  and  a  welcome  glass  of  sherry. 
D.  at  6.     Soon  got  right,  but  this  brevity  is  distressing." 

"  July  12th. 

*'  Whitefriars.  Mrs.  Church*  there.  After  their 
business,  I  brought  her  upstairs,  gave  her  sherry,  and 
she  stayed  an  hour  talking  about  spiritualism.  It  is 
odd — here  is  a  spirited,  clever  woman  of  business,  who 
says  she  and  her  children  incessantly  talk  to  spirits, 
with  some  of  whom  they  are  on  terms  of  banter, 
specially  with  one  called  '  Charley.'  I  asked  her  to 
let  me  have  an  interview,  quietly,  with  only  herself 
and  girls,  and  she  promises  this,  and  offers  to  try  and 
get  me  a  familiar  all  for  myself." 

"  July  I5th. 

*'  Got  at  a  cut  about  the  Duke  of  Edinburgh's 
marriage — I  suggested  the  fiddle  and  the  verse."  f 

♦  Florence  Marryat,  the  novelist. 

f  "  The  Old,  Old  Tune — Prince  Alfred  would  a-wooing  go  !  " 

"  There  came  a  fiddler  here  to  play, 
And  O,  but  he  was  jimp  and  gay, 
He  stole  the  lassie's  heart  away. 
And  made  it  all  his  ain,  O," 

Referring,  of  course,  to  the  Duke's  excellent  violin-playing. 

552 


AN  UNSEEMLY  WRANGLE  IN  THE  "  LORDS '' 

"  July  23rd. 

"  Thought  of  a  good  Pope  couplet,  in  case  anyone 
should  be  too  gushing  about  the  Bishop — * 

"  *  And  nobly  wild,  with  Budgell'sf  fire  and  force, 
Paint  angels  trembling  round  his  faUing  horse.' 

Sent  it  to  Crowdy.  On  Monday  night  the  Lords  did 
not  have  much  about  the  Bishop  or  Lord  Westbury, 
being  eager  for  a  fray  between  two  of  the  descendants 
of  Charles  IFs  mistresses,  la  Querouaille  and  Nell 
Gwynn,  D.  of  Richmond  and  D.  of  S.  Albans."  { 

"  July  25th. 

''  A  man  called  L.  has  called  several  times.  After 
other  efforts  to  see  me,  he  wrote,  and  is  evidently 
cracked — says  I  am  spying  upon  him  and  using  his 
ideas  for  Punch.  Wrote  him  that  I  never  heard  of  him, 
but  if  he'll  put  his  grievance  into  writing,  I  will  refer 
it  to  my  solicitor." 

*  Bishop  Wilberforce  had  been  killed  by  a  fall  from  his  horse  on 
the  preceding  Saturday,  and  the  ex-Lord  Chancellor  had  died  on 
the  Sunday. 

I  Eustace  Budgell,  a  kinsman  of  Addison's,  who  could  be  as 
unctuous  as  he  usually  was  cynical. 

I  The  Duke  of  St.  Albans,  the  descendant  of  Nell  Gwynn  and 
Charles  II,  had  recently  rather  indiscreetly  referred  in  an  after- 
dinner  speech  to  the  fact  that  the  Queen  had  been  educated,  politic- 
ally, by  Lord  Melbourne,  and  expressed  satisfaction  that  Her 
Majesty  had  always  been  a  Liberal.  The  Duke  of  Richmond,  the 
descendant  of  Louise  de  la  Querouaille  and  the  same  monarch,  had 
hauled  his  distant  **  relative  "  over  the  coals  for  this,  demanding 
what  he  meant  by  claiming  the  Queen  as  a  pohtical  partisan.  The 
Duke  of  St.  Albans  thereupon  rephed  with  some  spirit,  quoting  an 
anecdote  about  a  fool.  "  The  Duke  of  Richmond  left  it  to  their 
lordships  to  decide  whether  he  were  a  Fool  or  not,"  says  the 
"  Essence  of  Parliament,"  "  but  no  division  was  taken  upon  this 
question  !  "  Altogether  the  wrangle  was  a  very  unseemly  one  and 
did  not  redound  to  the  dignity  of  the  House  of  Lords. 

553 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

"  July  Tlth, 

''  A  piece  called  the  '  Marble  Maiden '  being  an- 
nounced, my  diary  helped  me  to  a  date  which  I  sent 
to  the  Era  critic,  Blanchard,  and  to-day  this  was  the 
result  : — 

''  '  The  author  is  Mr.  G.  M.  Lay  ton,  for  whose  grati- 
fication, or  the  reverse,  we  may  say  that  he  has  not  hit 
upon  an  original  title,  seeing  that  a  little  piece  from  the 
pen  of  Mr.  J.  H.  Stocqueler,  called  'The  Marble 
Maiden,*  was  produced  at  the  Lyceum  by  the  Keeleys, 
in  1846,  for  the  Uhut  of  the  late  Miss  Laidlaw.'  '' 

About  this  time  I  find  Shirley  Brooks  supporting 
John  HoUingshead  in  his  agitation  for  Copyright 
Reform  as  affecting  the  Right  of  Stage  Representation 
of  novels — a  reform  which  justice  demanded  then,  just 
as  justice  demands  it  now,  but  which  seems  as  far  off 
realization  as  ever.  That  a  stranger  may  take  my 
novel,  and  throw  it  into  dramatic  form,  however 
roughly,  is  a  scandal  as  crying  to-day  as  it  was  thirty 
years  ago,  and  we  who  have  written  fiction  will  echo 
what  Shirley  Brooks  wrote  to  HoUingshead  :  '*  That 
dramatization  question  ...  is  one  that  ought  to  be 
taken  up  by  all  of  us."  The  nature  of  the  scandal 
may  be  better  appreciated  if  we  take  the  case  of  Miss 
Braddon,  who  at  that  early  date  had  written  twenty- 
four  novels,  of  which  many  had  been  dramatized  but 
from  which  she  had  never  received  a  pennyworth  of 
pecuniary  advantage  ;  or  of  Wilkie  Collins,  who  wrote  : 
**  My  '  Poor  Miss  Finch  '  has  been  dramatized  (without 
asking  my  permission)  by  some  obscure  idiot  in  the 
country.  I  have  been  asked  to  dramatize  it  but  have 
refused  because  my  experience  tells  me  that  the  book 

554 


"ANYBODY  COULD  BE  MORAL  ^* 

is  eminently  uniit  for  stage  purposes.  What  I  refuse 
to  do  with  my  own  work,  another  man  (unknown  in 
Literature)  is  perfectly  free  to  do  against  my  will,  and 
(if  he  can  get  his  rubbish  played)  to  the  prejudice  of 
my  novel  and  reputation/' 

On  July  21st  Shirley  went  down  to  give  the  prizes 
away  at  Isleworth,  of  which  place  the  Rev.  Derwent 
Coleridge  was  at  that  time  rector. 

S.  B.  TO  Miss  Matthews. 

"  July  22nd,  1873. 

"  Yesterday  was  a  broil,  but  I  got  over  my  work 
pretty  well,  and  having  previously  '  crammed  '  a  bit 
from  '  Agathos  '  (the  late  Bishop's  book)  I  was  able 
to  bring  in  an  allusion  to  him  with  some  success.  But 
the  real  pleasure  of  the  day  (except  ice)  was  to  meet 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Coleridge.  This  is  the  '  Derwent '  of  his 
father's  poems  ;  he  is  now  an  elderly  clergyman,  very 
agreeable.  He  moved  the  thanks  to  me.  It  is  a  sort 
of  link  with  the  old  days. 

'*  Last  night  I  took  up  '  Pendennis,'  and  I  could  not 
lay  it  down  ;  sat  reading  it  till  midnight.  I  am  not 
sure  that  for  delicate  work  it  is  not  better  than 
*  V.  Fair.'  And  what  delightful  English  he  wrote  ! 
He  knew  this  and  was  proud  and  said  that  Dickens 
might  be  a  greater  *  moralist,'  but  that  he  was  the 
best  grammarian,  and  '  anybody  could  be  moral !  '  " 

Ditto  to  Ditto. 

"  Aug.  3rd,  1873. 
'*  Read  the  announcement  of  '  Manfred  '  (Princess's) 
in  Era  advertisements.  I  saw  it  years  ago.  One 
Denvil  was  brought  out  in  it  but  he  was  a  duffer,  and 
Vandenhoff  afterwards  took  the  part.  The  piece  was 
beautifully  got  up  as  regards  scenery,  and  there  was 

555 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

a  scene  amid  the  mountains  when  the  Witch  of  the  Alps 
(Ellen  Tree*)  appeared  and  a  wonderful  rainbow  was 
thrown  upon  her  white  dress.  We  thought  it  very 
fine  then,  but  electric  light  has  come  since.  Denvil 
couldn't  understand  his  text.  He,  speaking  of  Heaven, 
said,  '  Where  thou  art  not,  and  I  shall  never  be,'  and 
of  course  should  have  apostrophized  the  soul  of  the 
woman  he  had  '  slain,'  but  he  addressed  the  words 
to  a  fat  chamois-hunter,  John  Cooper,  who,  it  was 
particularly  plain,  was  not  in  Heaven,  or  likely  to  get 
there  without  a  lift." 

"  August  5th.     (Diary.) 

"  Parliament  prorogued,  and  an  odd  thing.  No 
special  boat  having  been  provided  to  bring  the  Com- 
mission from  Osborne,  the  Houses  were  kept  about 
two  hours.  But  the  papers  issued  the  speech,  and 
I  believe  I  read  it  to  E.  before  Lord  Selborne  read  it  to 
the  Parliament.  People  to  whom  it  was  telegraphed, 
and  most  buyers  of  evening  papers  read  it  long  before 
spoken,  and  in  America  it  was  read  9  hours  before." 

"  August  8th. 

''  Wrote  Punch  J  that  is,  '  Essence,'  which  once  more 
I  bring  to  a  conclusion,  this  time  with  some  verses — 
good  enough."! 

*  Mrs.  Charles  Kean. 

t  Little  did  he  think  that  for  him  the  "  Essence  "  was  written  for 
the  last  time,  and  that  the  last  word  of  his  as  much  serious  as  comic 
political  history  of  England  was  penned  when  he  wrote  : — 
"  Away  !    our  brave  Lords  ;    our  bold  Commons  away  ! 
Bill,  Motion,  Committee,  Debate  and  Address,  hence  ! 
Punch  rejoicing  (how  much  'twere  uncivil  to  say) 
Puts  his  finishing  rhyme  to  his  exquisite  '  Essence.'  " 
Lords  and  Commons  were  putting  away  their  parliamentary 
puppets  for  a  season.     Shirley  was  putting  his  away  for  ever. 

556 


PEERAGES  FOR  DOCTORS? 

"  August  9th. 

*'  No  one  had  done  anything  on  the  Ministerial 
changes,  so  wrote  some  hnes  myself — find  my  hand 
has  not  lost  its  facility  for  rubbish  of  a  *  lightsome  ' 
kind,  and  anyhow  I  have  an  ear  for  rhythm — so  has 
Burnand,  so  have  not  some  of  my  friends/'* 

S.  B.  TO  Miss  Fergusson. 

"  6  Kent  Terrace, 

"  Regent's  Park, 

"  N.W. 
"Monday,  Aug.  llth,  1873. 

*'  My  dear  Kate, 

"  There  must  be  a  '  sympathy '  between  us,  as 
Falstaff  (whom  I  am  getting  to  resemble)  says.  Only 
yesterday  I  was  speculating  where  I  should  direct  to 
you,  there  being  a  little  article  in  next  Punch  which 
'  the  family  '  might  hke,  and  behold  your  letter  was 
en  route. -f  I  am  so  glad  you  have  got  out  of  London, 
which  is  eminently  detestable  now.  To-day  we  have 
some  rain,  but  I  don't  think  it  is  any  cooler.  The 
streets  are  quite  melancholy — I  don't  think  there  is 
a  carriage  left  in  town.  One's  hansom  races  up  Regent 
Street  like  a  whirlwind,  and  there  is  nobody  to  run 
over. 

**  Very  many  thanks  for  your  most  kind  remembrance 
of  me.  I  first  dispose  of  my  family,  by  saying  that  we 
are  only  waiting  the  return  of  my  younger  boy,  Cecil, 
from  Godesberg,  to  act  promptly.     That  is,  Mrs.  Brooks 

*  ''  The  Shuffle  of  Cards,"  Punch,  Aug.  16th,  p.  64. 

f  The  article  was  entitled  "  The  Doctors'  Congress."  Sir  William 
Fergusson  was  this  year  president  of  the  British  Medical  Association. 
Shirley  wrote  "  Mr.  Punch  will  not  be  at  all  astonished  by  the 
speedy  announcement  that  Sir  W.  F.  and  Sir  J[ames]  P[aget]  are 
about  to  be  raised  to  the  Peerage." 

557 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

and  her  two  sons  go  to  Oban,  and  thence  into  the  north. 
I  have  nothing  to  do  with  their  wanderings.  I  can*t 
get  away  altogether  until  the  2nd  week  in  September, 
but  in  the  meantime  I  shall  go  to  some  sea-place 
(I  don't  know  where — can  you  advise  me  ?  )  whence 
I  can  come  up  twice  a  week.  But,  when  released,  I 
must  go  to  Harrogate  again,  as  it  does  me  so  much 
good,  tho'  it  is  rather  a  bore  to  go  to  the  same  place 
three  times  running.  Now,  Harrogate  is  not  so  far  from 
Scotland  but  that  I  might  manage  to  come  and  inflict 
myself  on  you  for  a  few  days.  When  I  say  '  inflict,* 
it  is  in  no  mock  modesty.  I  know  my  priceless  merits 
and  value  them  at  least  as  highly  as  you  do,  but  you 
do  not  know  what  you  propose  to  yourself.  Your 
house  will  be  full  of  men  who  shoot,  or  walk  to  the  tops 
of  mountains  ten  miles  higher  than  the  level  of  the  sea, 
or  stalk  elephants,  and  so  on.  Now  I  have  long  given 
up  the  athletics,  and  I  like  to  sit  under  a  tree,  and 
smoke,  and  be  talked  to.  That's  not  the  sort  of  guest 
you  want  in  September.  Consider  these  things,  my 
dear  K.  H.  F.     You  have  plenty  of  time  to  do  so. 

''  Your  house  looked,  somehow,  as  if  you  were  out 
of  it  the  other  day  I  passed  it — I  had  been  giving  away 
the  prizes  at  the  Hanover  Sq.  rooms,  and  was  going  to 
the  Westminster  Club  for  a  cigar,  etc.,  before  dinner 
in  Regent  St.  (Cafe  Royal,  No.  ^S,  very  good  d.,  by  the 
way,  to  be  had),  and  I  gazed  in  at  all  your  windows, 
and  felt  you  were  not  there.  I  do  not  think  many  of  our 
acquaintances  are  left  here.  I  have  seen  nobody  for 
several  days,  except  such  of  my  colleagues  as  have  not 
absconded.  'Tis  dull  work.  The  papers  are  not  quite 
so  dull,  however,  as  might  be  expected,  thanks  to 
Mr.  Gladstone,  Mrs.  Hogg,  the  lady  with  the  Page, 
Orton  and  Kenealy,  and  a  few  more  philanthropists, 
masculine  and  feminine. 

"  I  send  Punch — excuse  the  copy  being  made  of 

558 


MR.   SAMBOURNE  NEARLY   DROWNED 

proof  pages — I  have  not  yet  had  it  complete.  The 
initial  to  the  '  Essence  '  is  very  clever  and  the  artist 
has  shown  himself  in  his  own  initial,*  doing  what 
I  suppose  he  is  now  about,  viz.,  rowing  on  the  Seine. 
I  told  him  the  Thames  might  have  been  a  good  enough 
river  for  him,  but  he  said  he  wanted  to  improve  his 
French — I  imagine  he  will  hear  some  that  may  not 
improve  him  if  he  runs  up  against  a  bargeful  of  Seine 
cads,  as  he  is  very  certain  to  do.f 

''  The  railway  continues  to  furnish  accidents.  The 
fearful  business  at  Wigan  seems  to  produce  no  more 
care.  Its  result  spread  almost  up  to  our  door — one  of 
the  slain  (Miss  Nason^s  maid)  was  a  girl  who  worked 
for  a  milliner  employed  by  Mrs.  Brooks,  and  has  often 
been  here.  But  worse  things  are  done  in  America, 
as  you  will  have  seen — 40  burned  on  a  steamer,  as  they 
were  going  for  their  holiday. 

''  Sir  William  has  been  doing  his  work  splendidly, 
but  he  is  a  model  host,  so  that  can  surprise  nobody. 
I  have  accepted  his  teaching  about  water,  with  a 
modification.  I  am  not  afraid  of  water,  not  I,  but  I 
always  put  something  into  it,  for  we  are  bound  to  use 
all  proper  means  for  preserving  ourselves,  that  we  may 
live  the  longer  to  do  the  more  good  to  others,  and  let 
them  profit  by  the  example  of  our  goodness  and 
virtue.     It  is  very  pleasing  to  think  that  the  stiff er 


*  This  is  literally  and  delightfully  true  (vide  Punch  April  16th, 
p.  62).  Mr.  Sambourne  has  not  only  signed  his  initials  to  his 
drawing,  but  he  has  signed  his  portrait  to  his  initials  / 

f  This  proved  partly  prophetic,  for  in  a  later  letter  he  writes  : 
"  Sambourne  came  to  grief,  and  tho'  we  can  laugh  now  it  might 
have  been  bad  work.  The  boat  swamped  where  the  Seine  is  very 
wide,  and  they  had  to  save  themselves  by  swimming  ;  he  thought 
it  was  '  all  up  '  at  one  time,  for  he  could  not  reach  shore  but  got  to 
a  friendly  boat." 

559 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

one  brews  one's  tumbler  and  one's  Eke,  the  more  one 
is  obeying  the  dictates  of  reHgion  and  morality. 

''  With  which  elevated  sentiments,  and  with  kindest 
regards  to  Nelly  (and  I  am  glad  she  spells  it  so,  and  not 
like  the  young  ladies  whose  photographs  we  see  in 
windows),  I  end  this  screed,  and  am,  my  dear  Kate, 

''  Most  faithfully  yours, 

''  Shirley  Brooks/' 

In  August  Shirley  managed  to  get  away  to  Folke- 
stone, where  the  Friths,  du  Maurier,  (Sir  Francis) 
Burnand  and  Charles  Keene  were  already  making 
holiday.  Percival  Leigh  was  as  usual  left  in  charge  at 
headquarters. 

S.  B,  TO  Percival  Leigh. 

"  Pavilion  Hotel, 
"  Folkestone, 
"12  noon.     Wind  W.  Sun  shining. 
"  Sept.  16th,  73. 

'*  My  dear  Leigh, 

''  The  number  was  all  right,  thanks  to  your  care. 
This  opinion  of  mine  you  would  learn  from  a  note  I 
asked  Brightmore  to  forward  to  you. 

**  Touclung  the  large  cut,  it  seems  to  me  that  Punch 
is  almost  logically  bound  to  complete  the  history  of  the 
war  by  giving  something  about  the  final  Evacuation. 
As  to  its  form,  I  think  Tenniel  will  like  to  settle  this 
for  himself.  You  might  make  Germany  (female)  going 
out  with  a  sort  of  warning  :  '  Now,  Madam,  mind 
I  never  have  occasion  to  come  again,  or  you  will  not  get 
rid  of  me  so  easily,'  and  France  (female),  scowhng 
proud  defiance,  '  Next  time  you  come  I  shall  be  better 
prepared  for  you.'  For  that  is  the  truth  of  the  situation. 
But  the  idea  will  suggest  many  forms  of  treatment. 
I  think  that  it  is  certainly  the  cut  of  the  week,  anyhow. 

560 


X. 


CJ^^ 


THIS    INITIAL   LETTER,  CUT   FROM   THE    PAGES    OF    "  PUNCH 
WAS    FOUND    PASTED    IN    SHIRLEY'S    DIARY    FOR    1873, 
WITH    THE    IDENTIFICATIONS    OF    THE    PORTRAITS 
ADDED    IN    HIS    HANDWRITING 


Reproduced  by  kind  permission   of  the  Proprietors  of  "  Punch 


THE   BORE  WHO   QUOTES 

I  write  to  Jackides  by  this  post  to  the  same  effect,  that 
he  may  turn  the  matter  over  in  his  mind.  Or  France 
saying,  '  Au  revoir,'  and  Germany  saying,  '  I  suppose, 
dear  madam,  we  are  not  Hkely  to  see  you  in  BerUn 
soon  ?  '     France,  '  Cela  depend/ 

'  Speed  the  parting  Guest.' 
"  Mere  hints  ■  *  The  Best  Enemies  must  part.' 

/ 1  owe  you  a  return  visit.  Madam.'* 
''  Varied  weather,  but  lovely  air. 

"  Ever  yours, 

''S.  B." 

"  Sept.  Sth. 

''Reading  Mrs.  Grote's  'Grote,'|  dull  book,  but 
here  and  there  a  point.  Says  the  lower  orders  lost 
all  faith  in  the  upper,  by  reason  of  Crimean  blundering. 
If  Grote  talked  as  Johnsonically  as  she  makes  him 
speak,  he  must  have  been  a  bore,  but  I  don't  believe  it, 
and  will  ask  Dr.  Wm.  Smith." 
"Sept.  nth. 

*'  Got  £11  8s.  from  Dramatic  Authors,  for  perform- 
ances (some  years  now)  of  my  pieces,  which  still  yield 
a  little,  though  the  last  must  be  20  years  old." 
"  Sept.  ISih. 

"  In  ladies'  room  (PaviUon  Hotel,  Folkestone),  Mr.  S., 
of  Glasgow,  claimed  acquaintance,  and  said  I  had  dined 
with  him.  I  had  forgotten  it,  but  that  being  so  I  was 
obliged  to  talk  to  him,  and  he  was  the  bore  of  my  visit 
— telling  old  tales,  and  showing  me  cuttings  from  P., 

etc.,  in  a  d d  little  red  book  he  carried  about  with 

him.  Actually  quoted  to  me  one  of  my  own  bits. 
However,  such  things  can  be  borne." 

*  The  cut  was  not  a  great  success,  nor  was  the  legend  which  ran : — 
"  Au  Revoir. 

"  Germany.     *  Farewell,  madame,  and  if ' 

**  France.     *  Ha  !    we  shall  meet  again  !  '  " 
f  Mrs.  Harriet  Grote's  "  Personal  Life  of  George  Grote." 

561 

37— (2397) 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

Later  he  added  the  following  note  : — 

"  Wrote  as  I  felt,  as  usual.  But  saw  his  '  sudden 
death '  in  the  paper  late  in  November,  and  am  glad 
I  was  always  civil  to  him/' 

"  Sept.  15th. 

''  Sharpe  told  me  a  story  about  Carlyle  and  Swin- 
burne, not  so  bad.  S.  wished  to  meet  C.  '  Well,  I 
consider  him  a  man  who  lives  in  a  sewer,  and  contributes 
to  it — and  so  tell  him  that,  and  bring  him,  if  he  likes  to 
come.'  '* 
"  Sept.  IGth. 

''  Duke  of  Wellington  said  he  voted  for  Wife's  Sister 
Marriage  Bill  because  the  Duchess  had  a  pretty  sister. 
'  The  Duchess  will  outlive  you,'  said  L.*  '  Don't 
know  that,'  said  D.,  '  you  attend  her.'  .  .  . 

''  Duke  of  W.  (above),  talking  of  Locock's  Pills. 
L.  repudiated  them.  '  But  they  bear  your  name.' 
*  Yes,  and  I  wear  WeUingtons,  but  I  don't  call  you 
a  bootmaker.'  " 

On  September  23rd  he  moved  on  to  Brighton,  where, 
notwithstanding  the  brass  bands  and  "  the  paint 
without  beauty,"  he  stayed  for  a  fortnight. 

S.  B.  TO  Miss  Fergusson. 

"  33  Old  Steine, 
"  Brighton, 
''  1st  Oct.,  1873. 
"  My  dear  Kate, 

"...  This  place  is  crammed,  but  not  with  nice 
people,  who  come  in  November.  I  hate  the  place, 
except  for  a  couple  of  days.  The  very  music,  which 
never  ceases,  is  a  nuisance  to  me,  and  the  crowd  is 
an  ahhomination  (a  spelling  which  makes  the  word 
stronger).      But  the  weather  is  beautiful,  and  so  is 

*  Dr.  Locock. 

562 


A  GOOD   ^^SEQUITUR" 

the  air,  and  I  go  out  fishing,  as  then  I  do  not  hear 
Offenbach  murdered  on  brass. 

*'  They  have  turned  poor  old  King  Turvey drop's 
stables  at  the  Pavilion  into  a  Museum,  and  there  is 
a  handsome  room  of  pictures,  some  of  them  good. 
All  the  '  improve-your-mind  *  part  also  is  admirable, 
and  to  be  passed  through  with  great  rapidity,  but  there 
is  some  very  curious  old  Enghsh  china  worth  seeing. 
Also  a  wonderful  clock  that  tells  you  how  old  the  moon 
is,  and  when  it  will  rain  next,  and  how  old  you  are 
(I  know  my  age  without  telHng,  for  I  was  in  Brighton 
in  1827),  and  what  you  are  going  to  have  for  dinner, 
and  everything,  I  beheve,  except  what  o'clock  it  is. 
But  the  Aquarium  is  something,  and  I  go  there 
incessantly,  and  I  think  one  of  the  lady  lobsters  knows 
me  and  winks  at  me.  There  is  no  amusement  here, 
whereas  at  Folkestone  we  are  hurried  off  every  day 
to  see  the  boat  come  in,  and  insult  the  sick — ask  the 
Miss  Friths  if  we  didn't.  Do  you  know  Folkestone  ? 
If  so,  you  will  agree  with  me  that  the  Lees  is  a  far 
better  walk  than  this  Parade.  We  had  '  beauty 
without  paint '  there  :  here  we  have  paint  without 
beauty. 

''  Do  you  know  this  ?     I  fancy  it  must  be  French. 

*'  ^  Widower.  "  My  wife  is  dead.  Tears  will  not  restore 
her.    Therefore — I  weep." 

"  I  had  not  seen  it. 

"...  Ever  yours  faithfully, 

''  Shirley  Brooks." 

On  the  day  that  the  above  letter  was  written 
Landseer  died,  and  it  was,  says  Mr.  Frith  in  his 
*'  Reminiscences,"  due  to  Shirley's  advocacy  in  the 
Press  that  the  great  painter  was  buried  in  St.  Paul's. 
Again  I  take  advantage  of  Mr.  Frith's  kindness  and 
borrow  a  delightful  letter. 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

S.  B.  TO  Mr.  Frith,  R.A. 

"  33  Old  Steine, 

"  Brighton, 

"  Oct.  Srd,  1873. 

"  My  dear  Cottle, 

"  Fve  no  note-paper,  but  that's  a  detail.  Fve 
nothing  to  say,  and  that's  another.  You're  another. 
Yes,  I  have  to  say  this — that  the  Royal  Academy  ought 
to  stir  themselves  up,  and  bury  Sir  Edwin  in  S.  Paul's. 
I  wrote  that  in  print  yesterday ,  and  it  is  gone  to  India  ; 
it  was  not  hinted  to  me  by  the  D.T.,  as  you  would,  of 
course,  with  your  usual  candour,  suggest. 

'*  We  have  lovely  weather  here — almost  too  hot. 
I  shall  come  up  on  Wednesday,  but  the  missis  is 
enjoying  it  so  much,  that  she  asks  for  another  week ; 
so  I  shall  go  down  again  on  Saturday.  I  have  been 
reading  up  about  this  place  and  George  IV.  I  remem- 
ber his  death  well ;  and  also  that  I  tried  my  sucking 
muse  on  a  sweet  elegy  on  his  demise,  beginning  : — 

"  *  And  is  our  monarch  gone,  and  is  it  so  ? 
O  Albion,  yet  again  thy  tears  must  flow !  * 

''  Fancy  blubbering  over  Turveydrop  !  But  if  we 
waited  to  feel  before  we  wrote,  there  wouldn't  be  half 
so  much  good  writing  as  there  is.  '  Precious  good 
thing,  too !  '  says  you.  Apelles,  stick  to  thy  last 
(Apelles  was  not  the  same  as  Apella).  They  have 
turned  the  Pavilion  stables  into  a  free  museum — a  good 
many  pictures,  of  which  a  few  are  good ;  and  some 
very  funny  old  china,  besides  the  regular  improve-your- 
mind  business  of  owls,  oysters,  oolites,  etc.  The 
catalogue  is  not  to  be  had,  being  in  reviewing  hands, 
or  I'd  send  it  you.  Do  you  remember  a  '  Birthday 
Party  '  of  O'Neil's  (?)  children  dancing  :  a  good  deal 
of  go  in  it — that's  one  of  the  pictures  ;  and  another 
is  that  by  A.  Solomon,  of  the  girl  fainting  at  seeing 

564 


BRIGHTON,   A   "CITY   OF  THE   PLAIN" 

her  rival's  negress  dressed  in  the  former's  brocade. 
Also  Millais'  '  Bonny  Prince  Charley ' — a  woman 
sewing  a  cockade  on. 

''  My  dear  Cottle,  when  I  think  of  the  pretty  faces 
we  daily  saw  at  Folkestone,  and  when  I  walk  on  this 
parade  and  see  every  variety  of  frump — some  so 
hideous  ! — I  am  ready  to  weep  ;  and  should,  but  for 
being  more  ready  to  curse  at  the  eternal  and  infernal 
music  that  is  going  on  from  early  morn  to  Jew-ey  eve. 
Except  in  some  girls'  schools,  there  is  not  a  pretty  face 
in  Brighton  ;    but  that  is  nothing.     The  place  is  full 

of  criminal,  d able  hideousness ;  and  it  ought  to 

draw  down  heaven's  wrath,  for  I  am  sure  this  is  the 
City  of  the  Plain. 

''  Ever  yours  faithfully, 

"S.  B." 

If  any  further  proof  were  needed  that  Shirley  was 
suggester-in-chief  of  subjects  for  the  cartoons,  the 
following  letter  to  his  deputy  would  be  pretty  con- 
clusive. John  Bright  had  rejoined  the  Ministry  as 
Chancellor  of  the  Duchy  of  Lancaster  just  as  the 
Ashantee  expedition  had  been  decided  upon. 

S.  B.  TO  Percival  Leigh, 

"  Danby  House, 

"  33  Old  Steine, 

"  Brighton, 
"  Oct.,  1873. 
*'  My  dear  Leigh, 

*'  I  suppose  that  the  Return  of  John  Bright  to 
office  is  the  topic.  At  least  I  see  no  other.  I  hope  you 
will  have  a  full  Conclave,  and  hit  out  a  cut  which,  while 
it  lends  itself,  etc.,  expresses,  etc.  Jackides  is  aware 
of  the  formulary. 

*'  Bright  (malgre  Times)  does  come  back  to  help  the 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

discomfited  Cabinet.  Whether  you  will  treat  him  as 
the  Friend  in  Need  ;  or  as  the  Fighting  Quaker  come 
back  as  he  sniffs  war  ;  or  as  our  Big  Brother  ;  or  as 
'  time-honoured  Lancaster '  (see  book),  or  as  the  new 
old  *  maid-of-all-work/  as  Dufferin  called  the  C.  of 
Lancaster  ;  or  coming  in  with  '  Verily,  William,  thou 
seemest  to  be  in  what  is  carnally  called  a  jolly  mess '  ; 
or  if  you  could  apply  the  story  of  the  Quaker  at  sea 
fight  saying,  '  He  was  a  man  of  peace,  but,  friend 
Captain,  if  thou  wert  to  lay  this  tube  this  way  what 
a  number  of  poor  souls  (Tories)  thou  mightest  blow  to 

; '  or  as  an  old  coachman  preparing  to  see  whether 

he  can  '  drive  the  bus  thro'  Temple  Bar '  ;  or  as 
Achilles  coming  out  of  his  sulk  and  shouting  for  battle  ; 
or  as  the  Complete  Angler,  instructing  his  pupil, 
William,  how  to  throw  a  catching  fiy  for  the  fat  fish, 
John  Bull ;  or  put  the  '  Three  Chancellors,  Gladstone, 
Selborne,  and  Bright  in  the  middle,  and  something 
about  We  Three '  ;  or  something  apropos  of  the 
Bathing  Season  (now  on)  and  him  as  a  big  bathing 
man  teaching  a  couple  of  little  Ministers,  and  bidding 
them  '  Strike  out,  like  little  men,  that's  the  way  to 
swim  ;  '  is  for  the  Council's  high  consideration.  There 
must  be  some  way  of  making  a  good  bit  of  fun  out  of  it. 
He  would  look  well  confronted  with  an  Ashantee 
warrior,  and  regretting,  in  Quaker  talk,  that  he  has  to 
knock  him  over,  but  going  to  do  it  all  the  same  ;  or, 
better,  telling  W^illiam  that  if  the  misguided  man  has 
to  be  taught  a  lesson  it  had  better,  out  of  kindness 
to  the  poor  fellow,  be  done  thoroughly.* 

*  The  last  idea  was  adopted : — 

"  A  Friend  in  Need. 

*'  Mr.  Gladstone.     *  My  dear  John,  I  congratulate  you  !     Just  in 
time  to  settle  accounts  with  our  black  friend  yonder.' 

"  John  Bright.     *  H'm  !     Fighting  is  not  quite  in  my  hne,  as  thou 
knowest,  friend  William  ;   nevertheless !  *  " 

5^ 


THE  NOTORIOUS  EDWIN   JAMES 

"  Think  away,  my  boys,  think  away,  and  I  drink 
to  you. 

*'  Your  affectionate 

''  Exile  at  Brighton/' 

"  Oct.  25th. 

''  King  thought  that  something  about  Edwin  James 
(scamp,  who  stands  again  for  Marylebone),  though 
perfectly  true,  was  not  in  place  in  P.*  But  I  said 
I  should  touch  many  things  of  the  sort,  not  proposing 
P.  should  be  merely  a  tumbler/' 

"  Oct.  28th. 

''  Yates  encloses  a  note  from  Edwin  James,  asking 
Y/s  intercession  with  Punch.  James  has  the  cheek 
to  stand  for  Marylebone.  Says  Press  attacks  increase 
his  supporters,  but  give  pain  to  his  '  aged  relatives.* 
Told  Y.  that  when  J.  is  L.C.J.,  he  will  answer  such  a 
plea  with  *  You  should  have  thought  of  that  before.'  " 


*  Edwin  James,  the  notorious  defender  of  Dr.  Simon  Bernard 
in  1858,  quondam  recorder  of  Brighton  and  M.P.  for  Marylebone, 
later  a  bankrupt  and  disbarred  for  unprofessional  conduct,  had 
retired  for  ten  years  to  America  and  practised  at  the  New  York  Bar. 
Now  he  was  back  again  in  London,  making  a  hand-to-mouth 
living  out  of  the  unwary,  and  seeking  the  suffrages  of  his  old  electors. 
Shirley  did  not  spare  him,  and  "  Edwin  James  in  Error  "  appeared 
in  Punch  for  Oct.  25th.  The  nature  of  his  castigation  may 
be  gathered  from  the  following  sentences :  "  Mr.  Edwin  James 
must  not  presume  too  far  on  his  own  abjectness.  .  .  .  The  man 
whom  the  judges  have  unanimously  refused  to  re-admit  to  the  Bar 
is  not  the  man  whom  any  English  constituency  can  return  to 
Parliament.  Edwin  James's  return  to  England  is  not  an  event  on 
which,  as  far  as  we  can  see,  any  person  or  community  is  to  be 
congratulated,  but  his  return  to  Parliament  would  be  a  catastrophe 
which  we  decUne  to  contemplate  as  possible  in  even  the  most 
Marylebonish  of  Boroughs." 

567 


^  SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

S.  B.  TO  Miss  Matthews. 

"  Oct.  2eth,  73. 

**  I  beheld  two  acts  of  '  Richelieu '  last  night. 
I  could  not  have  supposed  Irving  to  be  so  detestably 
bad.  Shriek,  rant,  vulgarity  of  conception.  House 
crammed,  but  not,  I  am  glad  to  say,  enthusiastic,  tho' 
the  usual  calls  were  performed.  We  heard  Bateman 
himself  applauding  Isabel  '  like  mad.**  Beautifully 
got  up,  nothing  could  be  better.  Trollope  shouted 
after  me  at  the  G.  yesterday  to  tell  me  that  in  the 
Graphic  the  artist,  not  being  able  to  draw  horses,  has 
introduced  a  picnic  with  champagne  into  the  middle 
of  a  chapter  about  a  fox  chase  !  '* 

S.  B.  TO  Miss  Matthews. 

"  Nov.  2nd,  1873. 

"  I  called  on  Henry  James  yesterday  wanting  to 
consult  him  about  Reginald.  I  found  the  Solicitor  G. 
in  a  state,  for  he  has  got  to  be  Attorney-General.  He 
had  just  had  a  telegram  saying  that  Bovillf  had  died. 
His  office  is  so  good  a  one,  that  Coleridge  it  is  thought 
must  have  it.  Now  James  has  ;f 6,000  a  year  and 
extras,  and  would  have  liked  to  enjoy  this  and  the 
dignity  for  a  bit,  without  the  terrific  work  of  the  other 
office,  which  will  in  future  be  only  £7,000  and  extras. 
He  declared  he  would  blow  his  brains  out,  but  he  has 
too  many  to  do  that.'' 

*  H.  L.  Bateman  was  manager  of  the  "  Lyceum  "  at  this  time,  and 
Miss  Isabel  Bateman  was  acting  the  part  of  Julie.  Irving's  acting 
of  Richelieu  was  dealt  with  very  severely  in  next  week's  Punch, 
vide  Nov.  1st,  p.  177. 

t  Sir  WiUiam  Bovill,  Chief  Justice  of  the  Common  Pleas,  succeeded 
by  Sir  John  (Lord)  Coleridge,  who  in  his  turn  was  succeeded  as 
Attorney-General  by  Sir  Henry  (Lord)  James. 

568 


'^WHEN   YOU   MUST,   YOU^D   BETTER" 

S.  B.  TO  Miss  Fergusson. 
"  6  Kent  Terrace, 

"  Regent's  Park, 

"  N.W. 
"  Sunday. 

''  My  dear  Kate, 

"  You  will  receive  this  on  the  morning  of  your 

birthday.     I  send  you  some  rhymes,  but  I  must  also 

send  you,  in  the  hope  that  you  will  care  more  for  that, 

a  Hne  to  assure  you  how  sincerely  and  heartily  I 

congratulate  you,  and  hope  for  all  kinds  of  happiness 

for  you. 

**  We  are  just  going  off  to  dine  with  Mrs.  Keeley, 

and  it  is  a  nice-looking  night  to  go  out  in.     I  suppose 

the  weather  is  just  a  judgment  on  us  for  fracturing  the 

Sawbath,  as  we  say  in  the  north. 

*  *  *  * 

'*  O,  one  word  more.  This  is  the  crest  and  motto  of 
a  Scots  lady  with  whom  I  had  some  correspondence 
in  the  hoUdays. 

(Here  is  pasted  in  a  crest  with  the  motto  : — 
"  When  you  must 
You'd  better.") 

"  It's  too  pert  to  be  old,  but  it  is  rather  funny. 
She  asked  me  for  an  autograph,  so  I  naturally  sent  her 
one  abusing  Burns. 

*'  Once  more  and  always 

''  Yours  most  faithfully, 

''  Shirley  Brooks." 
These  were  the  Unes  enclosed  : — 

"  A  Birthday  Acrostic. 

"  Take  the  name  of  an  actor  so  great  and  so  small,  (K      ea      N) 

What  certain  folks  make  about  nothing  at  all,  (A        d        O) 

What's  as  needful  at  breakfast  as  coffee,  or  lait,  (T      ime      S) 

What  we  speak  with  when  meaning  that  folks  (E  mphasi  S) 

should  obey, 

569 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

The  French  for  a  fool,  and  the  Scotch  for  unsober,  (F  o  U) 
A  Httle  Scots  isle,  precious  cold  in  October,  (E        i        G) 

What  a  horse  should  not  be,  or  in  racing  he'll  lag,  (R  oare  R) 
What  Aberdeen's  made  of,  the  spoil  of  the  crag,  (G  ranit  E) 
That  of  which  Mr.  Mill  (see  his  *  Life  ')  appears  vain,  (U  nbelie  F) 
A  specimen  (in  the  Comparative,  work  (S     ampl     E) 

Young  ladies  were,  once,  not  permitted  to  shirk), 
A  royal  Scots  House  that  won't  govern  again,         (S      tuar     T) 
Nom  de  plume  of  a  lady  whose  writings  are  bold,     (O      uid      A) 
Nom  pour  rire  of  a  gentleman  known  as  *  the  old,'     (N      ic        K) 
Take  the  initials  and  finals,  those  down  and  these 

up. 
With  the  best  mountain  dew  fill  the  best  silver  cup, 
And  drink  to  the  health  of  the  Lady  whose  name 
Her  Poet  (Immortal)  dehvers  to  Fame, 
And  wishes  her,  plus  all  good  things  of  this  earth, 
Many  happy  returns  of  the  day  of  her  birth. 

"  Shirley  Brooks. 

"  Monday,  3rd  Nov.,  1873." 

It  will  be  noticed  that  lines  nine  and  twelve  rhyme, 
whereas  the  rest  of  the  acrostic  is  in  rhyming  couplets. 
The  above  is  as  it  was  sent  corrected  a  day  or  two  later, 
when  he  wrote  :  "I  find  I  mulled  the  acrostic  .  .  . 
accept  all  apology  for  my  carelessness.  My  only 
excuse  is  that  I  was  very  much  occupied  on  the  day 
I  wrote,  and  that  is  no  excuse  at  all/* 

"  Nov.  8th.     (Diary.) 

"  The  former  (Miss  '  Torie '  Matthews)  bought  for 
me  at  Brighton  a  magic  inexhaustible  inkstand,  to 
work  for  100  years — ^longer  than  I  shall  want  it,  espe- 
cially as  Dr.  Johnson's  *  odd  thought '  goes — no  letters 
in  the  grave. 

it:  *  Hf  * 

*'  Note  from  Christie  with  this  from  Sir  Mor daunt 
Wells,  '  Miss  C.  Baynes  and  all  Harrogate  are  raving 

570 


A  GOOD  STORY  ABOUT  DELANE 

about  S.  B.  There  never  was  a  man  so  much  hked — 
you  may  tell  him  so.  I  don*t  know  him  myself/ 
I  believe  I  was  tolerably  civil  to  most  of  them — not  all.'* 
"  Nov.  9th. 

'*  Heard  a  good  story  about  Billy  Russell  and 
Delane.  W.  R.,  D.,  Lord  Hartington*,  and  others, 
were  in  a  railway  carriage,  and  some  dispute  arose 
about  some  date.  R.  affirmed  that  he  kneWj  having 
made  an  entry  in  his  diary.  This  was  in  his  travelling 
case,  and  he  produced  it.  He  found  the  page,  but  not 
being  able  to  read — his  glass  having  slipped  into  his 
trousers — he   gave  it   to   Delane  to  read,   who   read 

*  John  Delane  tells  me  so  and  so,  but  then  he  is  such 

a   d d   Har   that   one   doesn't   know,"    etc.     This 

Delane  showed  to  Lord  Hartington.  However,  it 
passed,  and  Russell  has  since  dined  with  Delane." 

"  Nov.  22nd. 

*'  Disraeli  quoted  some  Greek  at  Glasgow  on  Wednes- 
day. King  thought  from  Sophocles,  so  did  Rego, 
but  neither  knew  whence.  I  ran  it  down  in  Potter 
next  day.  '  Ajax,'  speech  of  Teucer,  after  the  suicide." 
"  Nov.  25th. 

''  Good  story  about  the  Queen,  who,  speaking  of 
Dilkef,    wondered   he   was   so   averse   to   monarchy. 

*  I  have  had  him  on  my  lap.  I  have  stroked  his  hair. 
I  suppose  I  stroked  it  the  wrong  way.'  " 

At  the  beginning  of  December  a  *'  breeze  "  arose 
between  Shirley  and  the  management  of  the  Illustrated  l 
London  News.  It  was  of  short  duration,  but  blew 
fairly  hard  whilst  it  lasted.  I  group  the  allusions  from 
the  diary,  which  show  Shirley  in  one  of  his  rare,  but 
none  the  less  real,  prickly  moods. 

*  Now  Duke  of  Devonshire. 
t  The  present  baronet. 

571 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

"Dec.  1st. 

''  The  I.L.N,  advert,  of  Xmas  No.  does  not  include 
my  article.  Wherefore  I  wrote  to-day  to  the  P.M.G. 
to  know  whether  they  still  wanted  pars  (I  was  asked 
for  them  in  other  days).  I  do  not  want  to  throw  away 
one  pot-boiler  till  I  have  secured  another,  but  when 
I    have    done    this,    my   I.L.N,    friends    shall  hear 

something.'* 

♦  ♦  ♦  ♦ 

"  Dec.  2nd. 

''  Note  from  Frederic  Greenwood,*  Pall  Mall  G. 
'  If  you  do  wish  to  form  any  new  attachment  I  think 
it  likely  you  may  succeed  in  doing  so  here  to  your 

satisfaction,'  and  will  I  call  ? '' 

♦  *  *  * 

"  Dec.  6th. 

"  A  note  from  Latey,  which  I  think  settles  the 
business  between  me  and  the  I.L.N.  It  is  to  say  that 
they  can't  use,  but  will  pay  for,  the  Xmas  article, 
and  don't  want  '  B.  the  W.'  next  week.  Now  I  shall 
launch  my  thunderbolt." 

:ic  :|c  4:  ♦ 

"  Dec.  29th. 

''  Made  out  my  bill  against  I.L.N,  and  put  '  no 
charge  '  for  Xmas  story,  adding  that  it  would  have  been 
£15  15s.  Wrote  Latey  that  I  recognized  his  good 
feeling,  but  that  unless  he  wrote  on  the  part  of  the 

management,  things  had  better  remain  as  they  are." 

♦  *  *  * 

"  Dec.  Slst. 

"  To-day  there  came  another  appeal  from  Latey, 
begging  me  to  '  bear  and  forbear,'  and  so  earnest  that 

♦  Originator  and  first  editor  of  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette,  and  one  to 
whose  encouragement  the  present  writer,  in  common  with  numberiess 
others,  owes  more  than  will  ever  be  known. 

572 


A  SHARP  WARNING 

I  could  not  hold  out,  and  I  wrote  to  him  that  if  he 
would  send  at  one  next  day,  he  should  have  '  By  the 
Way,'  and  he  was  to  telegraph  if  this  were  too  late/* 

Other  extracts  from  the  diary  for  December  show 
that  his  health  was  causing  him  some  anxiety. 

"  Dec.  \st. 

**  Owen  Rees*  called.  Now  the  wind  or  whatever 
it  is  in  my  side  had  been  bothersome,  so  I  told  him. 
He  made  a  partial  examination,  but  asked  me  to  see 
him  one  of  these  days.  Settled  to  do  so  to-morrow. 
I  wish  I  could  know  positively  how  long  I  may  expect 
to  work  for  my  3.  .  .  /' 

**  Dec.  2nd. 

*'  Called  on  0.  Rees,  26  Albemarle  St.,  and  he 
thoroughly  examined  my  upper  regions.  Wind  and 
a  valve  don't  act  rightly,  but  no  cause  for  alarm.  Said 
that  I  should  have  plenty  of  warning  before  danger  of 
sudden  death." 

"  Dec.  1th. 

*'  E.,  as  we  were  about  to  go  up  and  were  speaking 
about  the  chances  of  life,  which  we  hope  for,  for  the 
boys'  sake,  said  that  if  anything  happened  to  me  she 
should  not  long  survive — she  used  other  words.  How- 
ever, I  hope  to  die  first,  but  to  Hve  until  we  can  calmly 
say  the  nunc  dimittis'' 

On  Dec.  17th  he  dined  with  the  Alpine  Club  at 
Willis's  rooms  and  wrote  : — 

''  To  my  disgust,  without  a  syllable  of  warning,  or 
a  minute's  notice.  Wills f  gave  my  health  in  connection 

*  The  eminent  physician,  at  this  time  at  Guy's  Hospital. 
t  (The  Rt.  Hon.  Sir)  Alfred  Wills,  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
Alpine  Club  and  third  president. 

573 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

with  the  '  Strangers.'  However,  I  was  in  pretty  good 
form,  talked  chaff,  and  called  mountains  excrescences 
on  the  beautiful  face  of  Nature,  which  elicited  what 
Hardman  in  his  report  called  good-humoured  derisive 
cheers.  Said  I  had  seen  Lebanon  and  Etna  but  never 
an  Alp,  but  had  read  of  Alp  the  Renegade,  and  Clan 
Alpine,  and  so  on.  It  did.  They  smoke  '  as  soon  as 
the  Queen  is  polished  off,'  as  Hardy  reverently  put  it." 

"  Dec.  19th. 

*'  To  the  Gaiety,  to  see  the  '  Hypocrite,'  which  is 
drawing  great  houses.  The  orchestra  itself  is  made 
into  stalls.  I  do  not  know  what  draws  the  people, 
the  play  is  an  anachronism,  and  badly  acted,  except 
by  Phelps — Toole's  Mawworm  may  amuse  some  folks 
but  it  is  bad.  Miss  Farren  is  a  mere  soubrette  as 
Charlotte.  Phelps  is  impressive,  there  is  backbone  in 
his  acting,  and  the  non-hypocrite  scenes  were  very  good 
indeed.  When  did  I  see  this  play  last  ?  At  Drury 
Lane,  I  think,  with  Dowton." 

S.  B.  TO  Miss  Matthews. 

"  Dec.  20th,  1873. 

"  I  saw  most  of  the  '  Hypocrite.'  I  do  not  know 
what  draws  the  people.  The  house  was  full  to  the 
brim.  Phelps  is  not  unctuous  enough,  but  showed 
power,  and  was  like  an  artist  among  the  duffers  around 
him.  E.  Farren  is  a  mere  soubrette.  Charlotte  should 
be  a  lady.  Besides,  she  talks  through  her  nose,  which 
is  well  enough  in  burlesque,  but  not  in  comedy.  Toole 
made  nothing  of  Mawworm.  I  did  not  think  he  could 
be  so  inefficient,  and  the  buffoonery  at  the  end  is 
contemptible.  The  rest  were  as  heavy  as  lead,  but 
Miss  Loseby  did  the  dangerous  scene  with  Cantwell 
better  than  I  expected." 

574 


HIS  LAST  CHRISTMAS   DINNER 
S.  B.  TO  Percival  Leigh. 

** '  Punch  '  Office, 

"  27/A  Dec,  1873. 

'*  There,  my  dear  Leigh,  I  have  just  made  up  the 
New  Year's  number.  A  select  lot  dine  at  the  Bedford 
on  Monday,  as  we  all  are  more  or  less  engaged  after- 
wards, so  we  hope  you'll  drink  our  healths,  and  we  shall 
do  the  same  by  you  and  yours.  I  hope  you  enjoyed 
your  Xmas  day.  We  dined  with  my  old  friends,  the 
Matthews' s  (Grindlay  &  Go's  house,  a  name  known  in 
Southampton),  and  were  very  merry,  and  I  uttered 
versicles  which  I  had  made  for  the  occasion,  and  they 
w^ere  received  with  rapture,  and  their  printing  was 
demanded  ;  that  you  may  see  how  entirely  they  deserve 
that  glory,  I  send  you  a  specimen.  This  was  the  verse 
for  a  lovely  little  girl,  who  is  a  wonderful  subduer  of 
animals  : — 

"  *  No  rh5mie,  the  bard  saith'll 

Fit  dear  little  Ethel, 
Who  tames  every  quadruped  under  her  care. 

Some  day  she  will  tame 

A  tall  biped  we'll  name 
At  a  one  o'clock  breakfast  in  Manchester  Square.' 

Nineteen  verses  of  the  same  kind.  I  bet  you  didn't 
exert  yourself  so  much  for  the  delectation  of  your  party. 
We  luckily  got  a  sober  cabman,  although  it  was  Xmas 
day,  or  night,  so  we  got  home  in  peace  and  joy.  I  have 
some  friends  coming  to  me  on  the  Eve,  but  we  make 
it  a  supper  this  time,  as  a  dinner,  even  beginning  at 
8.30,  drags  if  you  want  to  hear  the  Bells.  We've  tried 
various  ways  ;   this  is  an  experiment. 

"  Nobody  here  to-day.  W.  B.  came  for  an  hour, 
but  is  gone  back  to  Clapham.     Drury  Lane  pantomime 

575 


SHIRLEY   BROOKS 

very  bad  this  year,  I  heard  to-day  from  folks  who  were 
there  ;  Co  vent  Garden  better,  but  foggy.  I  suspect 
that  if  one  wants  the  old  fun,  one  should  go  to  the 
Surrey.  The  night  before  Boxing  Night,  they  played 
their  pantomime  there,  and  there  were  so  many  hitches 
that  the  house  howled,  and  the  manager  came  forward 
in  the  greatest  of  rages,  and  told  them  that  they  must 
know  this  could  be  only  a  rehearsal,  and  if  they  didn't 

stop  their  d d  noises  he'd  drop  the  curtain.     Serve 

'em  right.     The  cads  were  hushed  instanter. 

*'  I  don't  know  why  I  inflict  all  this  scrawl  on  you, 
but  it  seems  natural  to  finish  off  the  week's  work  with 
a  handshake  with  you.  All  good  wishes  for  a  happy 
new  year  to  you  and  Fred,  and  Mrs.  Leigh,  and 
(respectful)  salutes  to  the  young  ladies  from  the  aged 
Editor. 

"  Ever  yours, 

''S.  B." 


On  Dec.  31st  the  last  of  the  feasts  was  given  at  which 
Shirley  was  to  gather  round  him  his  friends  ''  to  see 
the  Old  Year  out  and  the  New  Year  in." 

Present  were  the  Burnands,  S.  L.  Clemens  (Mark 
Twain),  Arthur  Cecil,  the  Crowdys,  the  du  Mauriers, 
the  Friths,  the  Hardmans,  the  Jerrolds,  Mrs.  Keeley, 
the  Matthews's,  Mr.  J .  C.  Parkinson,  Mr.  Sambourne,  (Sir 
John)  Tenniel,  Mr.  Horace  Voules,  Mrs.  Montagu 
WiUiams,  and  the  Yates's.  Irving  and  Farren  were 
prevented  from  coming  at  the  last  moment. 

'*  Somehow,"  he  wrote  in  his  diary,  ''  I  did  not  fancy 
we  were  so  jolly  as  usual,"  notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  "  Mark  Twain  proposed  the  host  and  hostess  in 
a  very  funny  little  speech." 

576 


D.G. 

Then  comes  the  last  sentence  in  this  the  last  of  his 
diaries  : — 

"  I  believe  that  it  was  only  my  fancy  that  made  me 
think  our  supper  less  effective  than  our  other  gatherings 
have  been.  To  bed  at  2.30,  and  all  thanks  where  all 
should  be  paid  for  all  the  mercies  of  the  year/' 


iA} 


577 

38— (2297) 


CHAPTER  XX 

1874— Last  Days— Death. 

HEN  Shirley  began  the  year 
1874  by  posting  up  at 
the  end  of  his  last  year's 
diary  the  names  of  those 
who,  during  the  past 
twelve  months,  had  gone 
"  ad  Majores  "  —  James 
Hannay,  Lord  Lytton, 
Charles  Knight,  Macready, 
Emmanuel  Deutsch, 
Thornton  Hunt,  Samuel  Wilberforce,  Lord  Westbury, 
Landseer,  and  twenty  others,  Uttle  did  he  guess  how 
soon  he  was  to  join  the  silent  company.  For  the 
moment  life  seemed  strong  in  him,  as  strong,  that  is  to 
say,  as  it  had  been  since  he  had  received  the  sharp 
warning  of  four  years  before.  Fortunately  for  him 
there  was  to  be  no  long  tottering  on  the  brink  of  the 
grave.  It  was  his  happiness  that  the  hour  struck 
whilst  work  was  doing,  whilst  the  harness  was  still 
on  his  back. 

On  the  first  night  of  the  New  Year  he  represented 
Punch  at  the  Drury  Lane  Pantomime,  taking  the  place 
of  Mr.  (now  Sir  Francis)  Burnand,  who  was  dehvering 
some  of  his  *'  Happy  Thoughts  ''  at  the  New  Gallery  in 

578 


PROFESSOR  OWEN'S   "  DODLET  *' 

Argyll   Street.      He   was   in   his   j oiliest    mood   and 
wrote  : — 

"...  The  gem  of  the  pantomime  is  a  little  song  by 
two  little  ladies  .  .  .  who  have  a  good  deal  to  say, 
or  rather  sing,  about  '  Living  on  Buttercup  Green.' 
It  is  as  charming  a  tiny  pastorale  as  can  be  imagined. 
.  .  .  When  the  small  lovers  slowly  and  caressingly 
glided  round  together  with  looks  of  earnest  belief  in 
the  fooFs  paradise  they  had  been  singing  about, 
Mr.  Punch  declared  that  this  five  minutes  would  have 
paid  him  for  coming  to  the  theatre  in  the  ramshackliest 
of  cabs,  with  a  horse  that  tumbled  down  ...  in 
Leicester  Square,  and  with  a  cabman  whom  he  had  to 
offer  to  fight  for  the  overcharge.  Of  course,  he  came 
in  no  such  way,  but  in  an  air-tight  brougham,  with  furs 
on  his  knees,  and  behind  two  fiery  steeds — by  the  way, 
he  apologizes  to  the  fat  swell  he  knocked  down  in 
Thayer  Street,  and  will  thank  the  executors  of  the 
apple-woman  whom  he  ran  over  in  Long  Acre  to  call 
at  his  office  with  probate  of  her  will,  when  he  will  make 
an  addition  to  her  residuary  estate."  And  so  on,  and 
so  on,  playing  the  fool  in  the  most  delightful  manner 
possible. 

Then,  when  this  was  done,  he  sets  himself  to  write 
the  dehghtful  verses  entitled ''  The  Dodo  DemoUshed,*'* 
inspired  by  a  letter  to  the  Times  from  Professor  Owen, 
who  denied  that  a  live  specimen  of  the  Dodo  had  been 
discovered  in  the  Samoan  Islands,  and  declared  that 
it  was  only  a  '*  dodlet !  '* 

Then  he  sat  down  to  write  to  Percival  Leigh,  who 
was  out  of  town,  and  of  course  wanted  to  know  all  about 
everything. 

*  Punch,  Jan.  10th,  p.  19. 

579 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

**  6  Kent  Terrace, 

"  Regent's  Park, 

"  N.W. 

"  My  dear  Professor, 

'*  I  meant  to  send  you  a  line  yesterday,  but  went 
in  without  the  enclosed.  As  your  circle  was  pleased 
with  a  specimen,  it  may  like  to  hear  the  entire  '  poem/* 
A  note  or  two  explains  the  private  allusions.  When  it 
has  satiated  you,  send  it  me  back,  please,  as  it  is,  as 
you  see,  a  domestic  affair,  and  I  send  it  only  because 
one  happy  family  likes  to  hear  of  the  fun  of  another. 

'*  You'll  like  the  cartoon  this  week.  The  Vatican 
Hatter  is  very  sorry  he  hasn't  a  hat  for  Manning,  all 
he  has  got  are  for  under-sized  heads.  I  have  done  some 
nonsense  about  the  Dodo,  and  as  Burnand  is  busy, 
I  have  done  a  notice  of  the  Drury  Lane  pantomime, 
in  which  there  is  one  little  idyll,  two  children,  lovers, 
singing,  about  the  happy  days  that  will  be  seen  when 
'  Living  on  Buttercup  Green,'  that  is  prettier  than  aught 
I  have  heard  for  many  a  day.  Sir,  we  had  the  box  of 
the  Baroness  Burdett-Coutts,  and  we  did  go  in  a 
brougham  with  two  horses,  as  stated.  But,  to  show 
you  I  am  not  proud,  which  is  wrong,  I  add  that  we  went 
home  in  a  cab,  and  a  bad  one,  and  I  used  language  to 
suit. 

''  We  have  had  a  beautiful  day,  up  to  now,  (3)  but 
I  think  'tis  going  to  snow,  or  rain,  or  both. 

*'  Let's  see — I  have  nothing  particular  to  tell  you. 
We  saw  out  the  old  year.  I  got  about  30  here,  and 
gave  them  supper,  and  Tenniel,  who  always  waits 
to  the  end,  per  agreement  with  me,  left  at  2.30,  so, 
presumably  people  enjoyed  themselves;  they  made 
jolly  row  enough.     We  had  the  Friths,  Kikis,  Mark 

*  The  verses  which  he  had  written  and  recited  on  Dec.  17th  at 
Mr.  Matthews's  "  At  Home." 

580 


THE  VATICAN   HATTER 

Twain,  Jerrolds,  my  friends  of  the  house  the  verses 
were  said  at,  Sambourne,  Arthur  Blunt,  Burnand  and 
Mrs.  Rosie,  Crowdys,  etc.,  and  Kiki  sang  French  songs 
exquisitely,  I  wish  you  could  hear  some  of  his 
chansons  ;  he  might  do  them  at  No.  10,*  but  he  wants 
a  pianoforte. 

**  I  am  going  to  dine  with  Sir  H.  Thompson  on 
Wednesday,  and  talk  Cremation  ;  have  you  seen  his 
article  thereon  ?  I  suppose  and  hope  that  you  are 
with  us  (I  say  *  us,'  because  I  have  always  been  for  it) 
in  this  matter.  If  you  have  not  seen  the  article  (in  the 
Contemporary  Review)  I'll  send  it  to  you  when  you 
return.  It  is  not  a  topic  we  can  often  touch  in  P.  but 
it  may  be  well  to  have  one  profession  of  faith 
thereanent.f 

"  *  The  deep  Vesuvius  roars 
From  the  centre  of  the  earth.' 
— Masaniello. 
'*  So  saith  the  seismograph. 

'*  Kindest  regards  to  all. 

*'  Ever  yours, 

"  S.  B." 

That  was  how  he  began  the  year,  first  with  tender 
thoughts  for  the  Uttle  ones,  next  with  cap  and  bells 
donned  for  the  public  who  looked  to  him  for  laughter, 
castigating  with  all  seriousness  a  Pope  who  as  ''  The 
Vatican  Hatter  "  could  only  find  *'  hats  for  under- 
sized heads,''  then  with  timely  jest  driving  home  a 
long-needed  social  reform,  and  then  writing  a  screed 
to  a  friend,  who  must  not  be  neglected  merely  because 

*  The  Punch  offices. 
•  t  yi^e^  "  Cremation  "  [Punch,  Jan.  10th,  p.  12).     "  If  Cremation 
should  ever  become  the  rule  .  .  .  the  first  .    .  .  crematory  would 
be  in  Bemers  Street,"  of  course. 

581 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

the  editor  was  overwhelmed  with  work  and  the  man 
was  ready  to  throw  down  his  pen  for  very  weariness. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  month  he  had  threatenings 
of  his  old  trouble,  but  stuck  resolutely  to  his  work,  as 
indeed  he  did  to  the  end. 

Later  he  dined  at  the  Frith's.  ''  I  well  remember 
the  night/'  writes  his  host.  *'  He  looked  tired  and 
seemed  out  of  spirits,  his  appetite  failed,  and  he  left 
early.     I  never  saw  him  again.' ' 

Then  Reginald  records  in  his  diary,  ''  The  Governor 
(has)  got  a  nasty  sort  of  cough.'*  Two  days  later  the 
**  Governor "  is  '*  very  seedy."  But  he  is  not  too 
*'  seedy  "  to  write  to  Hep  worth  Dixon  about  his  new 
book,  '*  The  History  of  Two  Queens  "  : — 

''  My  dear  Hepworth, 

"  Many  thanks  for  the  two  ladies  you  have  sealed 
to  me.*  Always  welcome  as  your  books  are  to  me 
they  are  particularly  so  this  week,  when  I  am  shut  up 
to  cure  one  of  those  infernal  colds  that  come  of  our 
climate,  and  balance  constitution,  free  press,  enlight- 
ened Shirkey  Class  and  all  the  rest  of  our  blessings. 
I  am  glad  indeed  to  have  something  to  read  worth 
reading  and  printed  in  an  audible  type.  .  .  . 

'*  Ever  yours, 

''S.  B." 

Two  days  later  (the  5th),  "  the  Governor  is  much 
worse,"  and  the  doctor,  Owen  Rees,  is  called  in.  On 
the  10th  the  sick  man  writes  a  humorous  letter  to  his 
colleague  who  has  been  suffering  from  a  sharp  attack 
of  eczema,  obhvious  of  the  fact  that  **  one  thorn  of 
experience  is  worth  a  whole  wilderness  of  warning." 

*  Referring  to  Brigham  Young's  wives  who  were  "sealed  "  to  him. 

582 


LAST  ILLNESS 

S.  B.  TO  (Sir)  F.  C.  Burnand. 

"  6  Kent  Terrace, 

"  Regent's  Park, 

"  N.W. 
"  Monday,  10th  Feb. 
"  4  p.m. 

''  Dear  Frank, 

''  Costume,  a  pair  of  breeches,  but  not  pulled  up 
and  fastened,  a  plaid  scarf,  a  light  shawl  and  a  big  red 
quilt.  Seat,  easy  chair  by  fire  in  bedroom.  State  of 
mind — offensive.  State  of  body — legs  rather  swollen, 
incessant  korf,  and  touch  of  bronchitis.  Liquor, 
lemonade  all  day,  a  glass  of  hock  at  dinner.  Cigar  not 
forbidden,  which  is  mean,  because  I  don't  care  about 
it  in  the  least. 

*'  Ubi  lapsus  J  quid  feci  ?  But  I  think — I  say  I  think 
that  I  would  have  an  extra  week  of  this  sort  of  thing, 
if  I  could  thereby  buy  you  six  weeks  of  immunity 
from  what  you  tell  me  of.  However,  you  are  young, 
and  have  time  for  a  dozen  ventures.  It  is  most 
irritating  at  a  time  when  all  is  going  so  well.  I  fancy, 
too,  that  you  would  find  things  fighter  if  you  went 
to  bed  a  fittle  earfier  and  a  great  deal  straighter.  You, 
I  fear,  make  your  evening  a  Jolly  one,  like  that  of 
any  other  roysterer, — '  O,  let's  go  and  hear  Burnand 
and  then  to  Evans's  !  '  Now  don't.  Let  not  even 
Sambo  lead  you  astray. 

''  Poor  dear  Rosie.*  I  am  indeed  grieved  to  hear 
about  that.  You  or  I  would  go  about  mad  with  such 
a  thing  ;  but  somehow  Nature  gives  the  women  a 
power  of  enduring  martyrdom — and  it  does  away  with 
the  crown. 

*'  Don't  trouble  about  thinking  of  coming  to  see  me. 
In  fact,  the  Doctors  would  rather  I  saw  nobody,  as 

♦  Mrs.  Burnand. 

583 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

talking  makes  me  cough,  so  I  see  scarcely  anybody 
except  a  lady  or  two,  who  do  not  expect  answers  to 
what  they  say.  When  our  throats  are  clear  we'll  have 
it  out.  But  I  will  let  you  know  about  myself,  and 
I  shall  be  more  than  glad  to  hear  that  you  are 
recovering. 

'*  Written  on  a  book,  but  I  daresay  you  can  read  it. 

''  Ever  yours, 

''S.  Br 

The  weather  is  Arctic,  and  all  against  the  sick  man. 
Then  comes  a  thaw,  and  the  boy  writes  : — 

*'  Good  for  the  Governor,  who  is  slightly  better 
to-day.'' 

But  he  is  really  ill,  and  the  next  day  Miss  Matthews 
comes  in  after  dinner  and  stays  all  night  to  help  the 
distracted  wife.  '*  Mater  quite  knocked  up.  Doctors 
are  such  fools,  and  I  don't  believe  he  is  worse  at  all ; 
he  seems  so  bright  and  cheerful." 
"  Feb.  mh, 

'*  Doctors  thought  Papa  no  worse,  which  in  his  case 
must  mean  better.  M.  told  A.  T.  that  I  had  dreamt 
that  Papa  was  on  the  S.  Albans  (coach),  and  drove 
to  the  Abbey.  He  could  not  get  in,  and  had  to  go  to 
a  small  door,  where  also  he  could  not  get  in,  so  came 
back.  It  is  a  splendid  omen,  but  /  didn't  dream  it. 
Who  did,  M.  or  A.  T.  ?  " 

''  Feb.  16th, 

**  A.  T.  and  Jessie  called  ;  papa  himself  had  had  that 
dream,  which  makes  it  better.  People  calling  at  the 
rate  of  30  a  day  ;  how  kind  everyone  is.  All  the  Punch 
men  with  one  exception.  .  .  . 

''  Everyone  has  called  or  written  who  ought  to, 
with  the  above-named  exception.  A  paragraph  in  the 
Pall  Mall  from  D.  T.,  saying  he  is  in  danger ;   he  did 

584 


\  FROM   REGINALD'S   DIARY 

not  know  it,  and  there  is  no  keeping  the  papers  from 
him,  tho*  we  tried  hard.  Of  course,  the  D.  T.,  knowing 
him  dangerously  ill,  did  not  expect  he  would  see  the 
papers/* 

"  Feh.  nth. 

**  Had  pancakes  and  gave  the  Governor  one  for  luck. 
Frames  called  of  which  I  was  very  glad,  he  saw  me 
out  of  a  very  thick  wood  in  Germany,  now  he  must  see 
papa  out  of  a  thicker.  How  superstitious  anything 
giving  anxiety  makes  us.  I  am  watching  the  weather 
and  numbers  on  cabs,  and  the  cat  '  Sandy,'  but  I 
always  make  the  omens  right.  The  augurs  were  very 
clever  fellows.*' 

"  Feb.  l&h.      (Ash  Wednesday.) 

*'  Sackcloth  and  ashes.  This  is  a  long  affair.  I  alone 
am  confident  about  the  result,  but  his  old  friends  are 
not.  Leigh  came  here  and  papa  sent  him  down  a 
pencil  note  '  dat  bummer  der  Breitmann  is  holding  his 
own.'  He  burst  into  tears,  poor  old  fellow.  After 
dinner  Millais  came  up  and  sat  here  for  some  time,  very 
kind.  Of  course,  M.  Sq.*  came  ;  how  good  they  are, 
sending  us  soup  and  eggs  and  flowers  and  jellies,  and, 
best  of  all,  themselves." 

"  Feb.  mh. 

"  I  wrote  the  Home  News  again  to-day  ;  it  is  not  so 
good  even  as  last  week,  I  am  afraid." 

The  boy  was  doing  such  of  his  father's  work  as  he 
could,  but  Shirley  was  himself  working  for  Punch  up  to 
within  a  few  hours,  almost  a  few  minutes  of  his  death. 
Nor  was  he  alone  in  this  amongst  Punch's  staunch 
army.  '*  Many  a  time,"  says  Mr.  Spielmann,  '*  have 
the  public  laughed  aloud  at  jokes  and  pictures  wrought 

*  The  Matthews's  hved  in  Manchester  Square. 

585 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

when  the  hand  was  stiffening  in  death,  when  the  brain 
that  had  imagined  them  had  already  ceased  to  think/' 

On  Feb.  20th  comes  the  last  pathetic  entry  : — 

"  Papa  had  an  awful  bad  night,  and  telegraphed  for 
Barker  who  came  at  one  o'clock,  and  gave  us  hope. 
I  telegraphed  for  Cecil.  Rees  came  in  the  afternoon  ; 
did  not  give  us  hope,  in  fact  very  desponding ;  he  is 
very  fond  of  Papa.  Mrs.  Smith,  Lady  Thompson, 
A.  T.,  and  Irving  here.  M.  broke  down  utterly  before 
the  latter,  but  he  was  very  kind.  Alma  Tademas 
called.  Had  to  do  the  H.N.  Leader.  Papa,  ill  as  he 
was,  finished  it  off  with  a  pencil  on  his  knees  splendidly. 
Rees  came  again  at  8  and  was  more  cheering,  for  he 
says  he  is  no  worse,  and  with  Time  we  can  do  every- 
thing. The  Lancet  says  recovery  is  hopeless,  and  it  is 
in  the  Echo.  I  hope  to  God  it  don't  get  in  the  Mornings. 
I  wish  people  would  mind  their  own  business,  and  if 
they  want  to  know  how  he  is  come  to  6  K.  T." 

Two  days  later  a  friend  asks  the  sick  man  how  he  is 
and  he  says,  with  a  pathetic  attempt  at  gaiety,  ''  I  am 
Bright  to-day  but  shall  be  Lowe  to-morrow."  Then 
a  persistent  newspaper  man  calls  again.  ''  Tell  him," 
he  says,  with  a  shrewd  smile,  ''  that  he  shall  have  his 
'  par  '  aU  in  good  time." 

On  the  morning  of  the  23rd  he  looks  over  the  forth- 
coming number  of  Punchy  and  makes  some  suggestions. 
A  boy  is  waiting  below  for  *'  copy."  Shirley  writes 
f  a  small  make-up  paragraph,  asks  for  a  cigar,  takes  a 
couple  of  whiffs,  **  looks  very  surprised,"*  and  falls 
back  dead. 

*  Mrs.  Brooks's  own  words  to  Mrs.  Panton. 

586 


DEATH 

''  He  was/*  wrote  Blanchard  Jerrold,  *'  at  peace  with 
all  the  world.  He  had  blessed  his  wife  for  the  loving 
care  with  which  she  had  watched  over  him.  His  boys 
were  at  home  with  him.  And  he  turned  gently  on  his 
side,  and  fell  into  his  long  sleep,  leaving  hosts  of  friends 
to  mourn  him,  and  not  an  enemy  that  I  ever  heard  of, 
to  assail  his  memory.'' 

It  was  the  same  kindly  pen  which  wrote  in  the 
Gentleman's  Magazine  : — 

"  Some,  I  trust  many,  under  whose  eyes  these  lines 
will  fall  will  remember  Shirley  Brooks  in  his  latter  days, 
when  the  hard-fought  fight  had  been  won,  and  he  had 
come  out  of  it,  his  whitening  hair  being  the  only  scars 
of  the  struggle.  He  never  looked  braver,  handsomer, 
nor  happier.  He  was  as  deep  in  his  books,  as  familiar 
with  his  ink,  as  ever  ;  but  now  he  had  his  acknowledged 
place  in  the  literature  which  he  loved.  The  steel  at 
Napoleon's  side  was  the  same  on  the  eve  of  the  battle 
as  on  the  morrow  of  victory  ;  but  on  the  morrow  it 
was  the  sword  of  Austerlitz.  How  cheerily  and  kindly, 
in  the  heyday  of  his  complete  success,  Shirley  Brooks 
gathered  his  circle  of  friends  about  him,  none  who  ever 
stood  under  his  roof-tree  will  forget.  That  was  a 
pleasant  house  in  Kent  Terrace,  by  Regent's  Park, 
where  so  many  men  whose  names  are  household  words 
were  wont  to  gather  and  be  wisely  merry.  How  many 
years  have  I  seen  out  and  in,  sitting  with  hosts  of 
friends  round  the  mahogany  tree  of  our  dear  friend  ! 
How  many  times  has  his  manly  and  kindly  voice  said, 
*  God  bless  you  all '  to  us,  as  the  bells  of  the  New  Year 
broke  through  the  stillness  of  midnight !  He  stood 
at  the  head  of  his  table  last  New  Year's  Eve,  his  friends 
crowded  about  him — the  background  his  books  and 
pictures ;    watch  in  hand.     His  happy  EngHsh  face, 

587 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

ennobled  with  silver  hair,  never  looked  fuller  of  the 
intellectual  light  that  he  had  trimmed  and  burned — 
a  student  always — for  nearly  forty  years.  I  remember 
that  a  sad  feeling  came  upon  me  as  I  gazed  at  him, 
with  his  watch  in  his  hand,  counting  the  dying  seconds 
of  the  last  New  Year's  Eve  he  was  destined  to  see. 
For  he  reminded  me  of  my  father  in  his  study  at 
Kilburn  Priory,  on  his  last  New  Year's  Eve,  when  he 
spoke  so  solemnly  and  slowly,  as  though,  in  the  midst 
of  our  revel.  Death  had  whispered  to  him.  The 
scattered  flakes  of  white  hair  were  the  chief  resemblance 
between  the  two  ;  and  it  was  these  that  revived  the 
old  scene  in  my  mind — for  I  was  struck  with  what 
appeared  to  me  to  be  the  almost  sudden  whiteness  of 
my  friend.  ..." 

On  the  Saturday  following  his  death  they  laid  him 
to  rest  in  Kensal  Green  Cemetery  hard  by  the  graves 
of  Leech  and  Thackeray.  And  all  who  stood  round 
confessed  that,  perilous  as  is  the  vocation  of  the 
satirical  writer,  none  had  borne  himself  through  its 
unguessed-at  difficulties  with  greater  justice,  self- 
respect  and  courage  than  the  man  at  whose  loss  they 
were  so  profoundly  moved.  Socially  and  profession- 
ally his  death  had  made  a  gap  that  it  would  he  hard 
to  fill.  A  briUiant  writer,  a  witty  raconteur ^  his  cor- 
diality and  heartiness  had  never  been  soured  by  illness 
or  age  into  cynicism  or  disparagement.  Loving  the 
applause  and  affection  of  his  fellows,  he  never  lost  his 
independence  or  truckled  to  the  great  and  powerful. 
Weaknesses  he  had,  and  no  attempt  has  been  made  to 
conceal  them  in  these  pages.  But  surely  there  is 
something  of  nobility  to  be  found  there  too,  or  I  have 
signally  failed  in  showing  the  man  as  he  really  was. 

588 


THE   GREAT  ADVENTURE 

More  than  the  adumbration  of  a  hfe  no  biographer  has 
ever  yet  set  down  since  the  world  began.  The  best  that 
can  be  hoped  is  that  we  have  caught  some  momentary 
and  real  ghmpses  of  a  fellow  creature  during  this  great 
terrestrial  adventure  upon  which,  in  common  with  us, 
he  was  so  desperately  engaged. 

Punch  has  been  (and  is)  most  fortunate  in  his 
editors,  and  yet  I  fancy  none  will  gainsay  what  was 
written  in  the  pages  Shirley  loved  above  all  others  : — 

*'  No  better  wish  can  be  offered  to  his  successors  than 
that  they  may  be  guided  by  as  fine  a  taste,  as  clear 
a  judgment,  and  as  well-directed  sympathy,  as  was 
Shirley  Brooks." 

Some  persons  profess  to  find  it  shocking  that  a  man 
should  pass  into  the  presence  of  his  Maker,  as  they  call 
it,  straight  from  writing  epigrams  for  Punch.  The 
same  people  are  never  tired  of  saying  that  we  are 
always  in  God's  presence.  Should  we  then  strike 
working  when  we  find  ourselves  on  the  threshold  of  the 
Black  Door  we  call  Death,  which  on  these  persons*  own 
showing  does  not  divide  us  from  our  Maker  ?  True, 
there  are  tremendous  Possibilities  on  the  thither  side. 
There  is  a  world  of  Mystery.  There  is  the  rest  of  the 
Pattern  which  we  have  been  blindly  working  at  during 
our  lives.  And  who  will  venture  to  say  that  Shirley's 
wandering  thread  of  tinsel  was  not  necessary  to  the 
whole  great  pattern  by  which  the  well-and-truly-done 
of  Humanity  will  eventually  be  judged  ?  Certainly 
he  was  faithful  over  a  few  things.  And  he  is  in  the 
hands  of  God. 

There  are  but  few  more  words  to  be  said.     Shirley 

589 


SHIRLEY  BROOKS 

had  made  his  will  in  April,  1873,  leaving  everything  to 
his  wife  and  appointing  her  sole  executrix.  He  had 
insured  his  life  for  £4,000,  and  there  was  some  £2,000 
owing  or  standing  to  his  account  at  his  death.  His  old 
friends  and  comrades  at  once  set  to  work  and  raised 
a  subscription  of  £2,000  for  his  widow.  Sala  and 
Sir  Benjamin  Phillips,  some  time  Lord  Mayor  of 
London,  and  a  good  friend  to  Shirley,  took  steps  to 
get  her  a  pension.  Mrs.  Brooks's  name  was  at  once 
put  down  on  the  Prime  Minister's  list.  Two  years 
later  a  grant  was  made  of  £100  per  annum.  This  she 
lived  to  enjoy  for  four  years.  She  died  in  May,  1880, 
and  was  buried  beside  her  husband  at  Kensal  Green. 

Just  one  more  man  and  woman  had  played  their 
parts  in  the  great  adventure,  and  had  slipped  quietly 
out  to  their  Rest  beyond  the  Theatre  of  this  mad  world. 

And  what  is  the  moral  of  Shirley  Brooks's  life — the 
moral  that  attaches  to  Punch  himself  ?  This,  I  think 
— that  he  and  his  colleagues  and  the  paper  which  he 
loved  so  well  did  their  wholesome  part  in  helping  the 
nineteenth  century  to  laugh  itself  into  sanity,  when 
it  was  like  to  go  melancholy  mad  under  the  teachings 
of  its  Ruskins,  its  Carlyles,  and  its  other  lesser 
pessimists. 


590 


Appendix 


The  following  entries  appear  under  heading  ''  Charles 
William  Shirley  Brooks/'  at  the  British  Museum  : 

"  Timour  the  Tartar,"  by  J.  Oxenford  and  S.  B.     See  Lacy  (T.  H.). 

Lacy's  acting  edition  of  Plays,  etc.     Vol.  49.     1850.     12mo. 
See  Periodical  Publication.    London.     The  Literary  Gazette,  new 

series  (edited  successively  by  S.  B.,  etc.).     1817.    4to. 
See  Periodical   Publication.     London.     "  Punch    or    the    London 

Charivari  "  (successively  edited  by  Mark  Lemon,  Shirley  Brooks, 

etc.).     1841,  etc.     4to. 
See  Reach  (A.  B.)  and  Brooks  (C.  W.  S.).     "A  Story    with    a 

Vengeance."     1852.    8vo. 
"  Amusing  Poetry,"  edited  by  S.  B.     London.     1857.    Svo. 
New  edition.     London.     1874.     Part  of  Diprose's  Railway  Library. 
"  Anything  for  a  Change,"  a  petite  comedy  in  one  act  (and  in  prose). 

See  Lacy  (T.  H.),  Lacy's  acting  edition  of  plays,  etc.     Vol.  IV. 

1850,  etc.     12mo. 
Another   edition.    New  York.     1872   (?).    8vo.     In  114  of  "  De 

Witt's  Acting  Plays." 
"  Aspen  Court,"  a  story  of  our  own  time.     Three  vols.     London. 

1855.     12mo. 
New  edition,  revised.     London.     1857.     8vo. 
Another  edition,  see  Handy  Volume  Series.     Handy  Volume  Series. 

1868,  etc.     8vo. 
"  The  Creole,  or  Love's  Fetters,"  an  original  drama  in  three  acts 

(and  in  prose).     See  Lacy  (T.  H.).     Lacy's  acting  edition  of 

plays,  etc.     Vol.  I.     1850,  etc.     12mo. 

591 


APPENDIX 

"The  Creole,  or  Love's  Fetters,"  pp.  18.     1896.     Dick's  standard 

play  No.  1009.     1883,  etc.     8vo. 
"  The  Daughter  of  the  Stars,"  a  drama  in  two  acts  (and  in  prose)  ^ 

Lacy's  acting  edition  of  plays,  etc..  Vol.  II.     1850,  etc.     12mo. 
'*  The   Exposition,  a    Scandinavian    sketch,  containing  as  much 

irrelevant  matter  as  possible,"  in  one  act  (and  in  verse).  Lacy, 

Vol.  III.     1850,  etc.     12mo. 
"  Follies  of  the  Year,"  by  John  Leech.     A  series  of  coloured  etchings 

from  Punch  Pocket-Books.      1844-64.     With  some  notes  by 

S.   B.    London.     1866.    4to. 
"  The  Gordian  Knot,"  a  story  of  good  and  evil,  with  illustrations  by 

J.  Tenniel,  London.     1858-60. 
Another  edition.  Handy  Volume  Series.     1868,  etc. 
"  The  Guardian  Angel,"  a  farce  in  one  act  (and  in  prose).     Lacy, 

Vol.  V.     1850.     12mo. 
*'  The  Naggletons,"   and   "  Miss  Violet  and   her   '  Offers,'  "   etc. 

London,  1875.     8vo. 
**  The  Opera,"  "  The  Coulisses,"  "  Foreign  Gentlemen  in  London." 

See  Smith  (A.  R.). 
"  Gavarni  in  London."     1849. 
Another  edition.     See  Smith  (A.  R.),  "  Sketches  of  London  Life," 

etc.     1859.    8vo. 
"The  Russians  of  the  South."     1854.     The  Travellers'  Library, 

etc.     Vol.  VI.     1856. 
"  The  Silver  Cord,"  a  story.    Three  vols.     London.     1861. 
Another  edition.    Three  vols.     1862. 
"  Sooner  or  Later,"  with  illustrations  by  G.  du  Maurier.    London. 

1868. 
*'  Wit   and   Humour."     Poems  from   Punch.    Edited   by   R.   S. 

Brooks.    London.     1875. 
"  The  Wigwam,"  a  burletta,  in  one  act  (and  in  prose),  etc.     Dick's 

standard  play  No.  1004.     1883,  etc. 


592 


Index 


A  Beckett,  Mr.  Arthur.  191,  283 

,  Gilbert,  40.  57 

Aberdeen,  Lord,  122 

Abinger,  Lord,  450 

Agnew,  Mr.  J.  H.,  273.  415,  478 

,  Mr.  Thomas,  273,  350,  402. 

415,   478 

,  Sir  Wilham,  273,  402.  415,  478 

Ainsworth,  Harrison,  34 
Ainsworth's  Magazine,  32,  et  seq. 
Airy,  Sir  Bedell,  435,  463 
Albert,  Prince,  189 
Alexandra,  Queen,  213 
"  Amusing  Poetry,"  157 
Anderson,  Mrs.  Garrett,  428 
Andersen,  Sir  James,  339 
Ansdell,  Richard,  234 
"  Anything  for  a  Change,"  54,  59 
Arcedekne  A.,  464 
Archer,  Mr.  William,  280 
Argus,  the,  32 
Argyll,  Duke  of,  447 
"  Aspen  Court,"  126,   173 
Austin,  Mr.  Alfred.  238,  291 
Avebury,  Lord,  464 

Ballantine,  Serjeant,  468 
Bancroft,  Lady,  322.  337 
Barker.  Dr.  Edgar,  389,  392 
Bateman,  H.  J.,  237 

.   Kate,  209,  237 

Batemans,  The,  503-505.  568 
Beale,  T.  W.,  413 
Beaumont,   Lady,   409 
Beauregard,   General,   240 
Bedford.  Paul.  436 
Bell,  Robert,  304 
Bellew.  F.,  408 
Benedict.  Sir  J.,  352,  460 
Bennett,  Charles,  119,  273,  293-295, 
297,   329 

,  Sir  John,  496 

,  Sir  Sterndale.  231.  322.  408 

Bensusan.  Mrs..   331.  367 


39— {•a97) 


Bentley,    Richard,    105,    126,    140. 

141,    142 
Bentley' s  Miscellany.  35,  106,  126 
Blackburn.  Mr.  Justice.  337 
Blanchard,  Laman,  55 
Boucicault.  Mrs..  326 
Bovill.  Sir  William.  568 
Bradbury,  Agnew  &  Co. ,  Messrs. .  273 
&  Evans,  Messrs..  45,  146,  147. 

162,  164.  170,  200.  216.  217,  273. 

312.  324.  432 

,  Mr.  Lawrence.  162 

,  W.  H.,  294,  299,  342,  345,  411, 

477,  491 
Braddon.  Miss,  554 
Bright.  John,  284.  389,  479.  565,  566 
Brooks.   Cecil,    134,    159.   232.   233, 

235.  271.  355.  437.  438.  529 

,   Elizabeth,    1 

,  Reginald,  133  et  seq.,  228.  232. 

233.  271,  336,  355,  356,  367.  396, 

412,  423-426,  450,  454,  466.  471, 

528,  529.  530,  533,  584-586 

,  Sheffield.  24 

Brooks,    Charles    William 
(Shirley) 

Birth.   1.  2 

Childhood,  3  et  seq. 

Religious  Influences,  7  et  seq.,  10 
et  seq. 

Love  of  Wales.  23 

Law  Studies,  24,  25 

First  Literary  Effort,  26 

His   Appearance,    30   et   seq..   68 
et  seq. 

As  Man  of  Letters,  31  and  32 

As  Freemason,  36 

His  Pen-names,  37,  39 

As  Verse-writer.  48  et  seq. 

As  Pla>'"wright.  57  et  seq. 

As  Reporter,  61  et  seq. 

As  a  Friend.  65 

As  Conversationalist.  71  et  seq.,  95 

As  Punster,  75  et  seq. 


593 


INDEX 


His  Memory,  83 

Love  of  Children,  85,  86,  204 

As  Dreamer,  92  et  seq.,  341,  367 

As  Letter-writer,  95 

His     Influence    on    Punch,    102 

et  seq. 
At  the  Punch  Table,    111,    114, 

115,  212,  397  et  passim 
As  Suggester-in-Chief,    116,    117, 

213,  340,  359,  393 
As  Serial  Writer,   127.   172.   173, 

178,  196  et  seq. 
Marriage,  129 
Birth  of  his  Sons,  133 
On  the  Staff  of  Punch,  135 
And  the  Pre-RaphaeHtes,  144 
And  the  Deceased  Wife's  Sister, 

145 
As  Parodist,  154 
And    Autograph    Hunters,     160, 

161,  212 
Bust  in  the  R.A.,  161 
As  Lecturer,  168,  237,  274,  275 
And  the  Spiritualists,  168 
And  the  Volunteers,  170 
At  No.  6  Kent  Terrace,  181 
And  the  New  Journalism,  198 
As  Novelist,  201 
Gout,  214.  249,  340,  381.  387-91 
Kind-heartedness.   223-225.   298, 

313,  345,  394 
Diaries,  227  et  passim 
On  the  American  War,  246 
His  Earnings,  234,  277,  323 
On  the  Censorship  of  Plays,  280 
As  Locum  Tenens,  311 
As  Goldsmith,  370,  374 
As  Editor  of  Punch,  402  et  seq. 
Elected  F.S.A.,  491,  507 
As  Amateur  Actor,  503-505 
On  Copyright  Reform,  554 
Last  Illness  and  Death,  582-590 

.  Mrs.  Shirley,  129  et  seq.,  181, 

183.  235,  260-267,  271,  300,  324, 
330,  342.  346.  425.  448.  449.  454, 
466,  573,  590 

,  William,   1,  2.  90 

,  William,  (jun.),  37 

Brough,  William,  432 

Broughton,  Lord,  354 

Browning,  Robert,  104.  482 

Buchanan.  Robert.  333 

Bunn.  Alfred,  544 

Burdett-Coutts.  Baroness.  580 


Burnand,  Sir  Francis,  38,  40,  57. 
101,  250,  273,  282,  322,  354,  355, 
402,  404,  405,  407,  442.  460,  483, 
513,  523,  557,  576,  578,  581.  583 

.  Mrs..  433.  583 

,  Theophilus,  408,  470 

Burnham,  Lord,  325,  327,  458 

Burns,  Robert,  471.  569 

Burton,  Lady,  376 

Byron.  Lord,  335,  361,  372,  541 

,  H.  J.,  395 

"  By  the  Way,"  526 

Capel,  Monsignor.  435.  461 

Cairns,  Lord,  359 

Calderon,  P.  H..  302 

"  Card  Basket,  The,"  191 

Carington,  Lord,  357 

Carlyle,  Thomas,  288,  519,  562 

Carruthers,  Robert,  409 

Cecil,  Arthur,  206 

"  Chaos  without  Knox,"  358 

Chapman  &  Hall,  Messrs.,  98 

Chappell,  Mrs.,  322,  326 

Clarendon,  Lord.  408 

Clay,  Frederick,  408 

Clemens,  Mr.  S.  L.   (Mark  Twain). 

576.   581 
Close,  John,  183-188 
"  Close's  Gush  of  Gratitude,"  187, 

188 
Cobbe,  Miss  F.  P.,  523 
Cockburn.  Sir  A.,  468 
Coleridge.  Lord,  457,  468.  568 

,  Rev,  Derwent,  555 

Coles,  Cowper,  433 
Collins,  Mortimer,   103 

,  Wilkie.  554 

"  Coming  Race.  The."  466 

Connaught.  Duke  of,  462 

Cook,  John  Douglas,  60 

Cooke,  Nathaniel,  391 

Cooper.  T.  S.,  182 

Cottle.  Mrs.  Elizabeth.  149 

Creasy.  Sir  Edward.  321 

"  Creole.  The."  41,  54,  57,  58 

"  Crossing  Sweepers,"  236 

Cruikshank,  George,  39,  397,  409 

"  Dagon,"  137 

Dalling  and  Bulwer.  Lord,  408 
"  Daughter  of  the  Stars.  The,"  59 
Davison,  J.  W.,  205,  323.  390 
De  Bathe,  Sir  Henry.  524 
Defoe.  Daniel.  442 


594 


INDEX 


Delane,  John,  571 

De  la  Ram6e,  Miss,  337,  410,  413. 

433,  435 
De  Lesseps,  Ferdinand,  408 
Derby,  Lord,  356,  371,  372 
Deutsch,  Oscar,  302,  323 
Devonshire,  Duke  of,  571 
Dickens,  Charles.  1,  18.  61,  63,  126. 

164.  410.  415,  497 

(jun.).551 

,  Mrs..  416 

Dilke,  Sir  Charles,  497-571 
Disraeli,  Benjamin,   104,  349.  373. 

376,  571 
Dixon.    Hepworth.    208,    330,    427, 

440.  471.  512.  582 
Dodgson.  Rev.  C.  L,,  449,  515 
Doeg,  Mr.  W.  H..  160 
Dore,  Gustave,  97,  325,  403,  413,  435 
Doyle,  Sir  Francis,  482 

,  Richard,  461 

Dufif-Gordon,  Sir  Alexander,  182,  230 
Du  Maurier,  George,  76,   182,   197, 

203.  223.  273,  286,  291.  294,  302, 

328.  351.  352.  360,  377.  391.  409. 

413.  441,  485,  486,  511,  535,  536, 

537,  551,  576,  580 

,  Mrs.  (sen.),  432,  460,  466.  467 

Dunlop.  Mr.  George,  183,  244,  331 

Eaton,  Charles.  220 
Edinburgh.  Duke  of,  552 
Edmunds,  Mr.  A.  J.,  244 
Edward  VII,  H.M.  King,  412,  418, 

495.  498-501 
Edwards.  Henry  Sutherland.  71.  77, 

231 

,  John  Passmore,  209 

Egmont.  Lord,  231 

"  Epistle  of  Shegog."  151 

Era,  The.  35.  41 

Escott.  Mr.  T.  H.  S..  304 

Evans.  Mr.  Fred,  233.  273.  282.  288, 

294.  324.  326 
.  F.  M..  136,  140.  141.  162.  216. 

217,  273.  294.  407.  410 
"  Evening  with  the  Speaker,  An," 

237 
"  Exposition,  The,"  59 
Eyre.  Governor.  288 


Farren,  Miss,  574 

,  William,  59 

Fechter,  C.  A.,  230 


Fergusson,  Miss.  460,  540,  543,  557, 

562,  569 

,  Sir  William,  323,  338.  559 

Fleming,  Mr.  W.  L.,  98,  212 

Eraser's  Magazine,  28 

Frere.  Sir  Bartle.  376 

Frith,  Mr.  C.  G..  259 

.  Miss  "  Sissy  "  (Mrs.  Panton). 

5. 30.  38.  70, 259.  302. 362.  469.  493 
.  Mr.  W.  P..  70.  79.  148,  149. 

150,  151,  153,  173,  182,  231.  238. 

258-267.  268.  270,  275,  278.  289, 

291.  300,  302,  308,  315,  329,  352, 

406,  415,  469,  470,  488.   563-565. 

576,  580,  582 
,  Mrs.  W.  P.,  131.  258-267,  271. 

279.  285,  286.  492 
Furtardo.  Miss.  285 

Gaskell.  Lieut. -Colonel,  52 
Garibaldi.  409 
Garrod.  Sir  Alfred.  427 
Gentleman's  Magazine,  The,  312,  316. 

317 
George  IV.  King,  564 
"  George  Eliot,"  435 
George,  Mrs.  Thome,  307 
Germany,  Emperor  of.  437 
Gilbert.  Sir  W.  S.,  378-401,  508,  542 
Goddard.  Arabella.  205 
Goldsmith.  Oliver,  462 
"  Gordian  Knot,  The,"  142.  145 
Gladstone,    W.    E.,   218.    329.   340. 

356.  359,  446,  472,  479,  495,  497, 

566 

,  Mrs.,  372 

Globe,  The.  342 

Grain.  Corney,   191 

Greenwood,  Frederick,  572 

Grey.  Lord.  359 

Grindlay  &  Co.,  Messrs.,  304.  338 

Grote.  George,  561 

Grove.  Sir  George.  361 

"  Guardian  Angel,  The,"  337 

Hall.  Newman.  407 

Hannay.  James.  46 

Hardman,  Sir  William.  412.429.502 

.  Lady,  501,  533.  576 

Hardy,  Mr.  Thomas,  203 
Hare,  Mr.   John,  512 
Hastings,  David,  63 
Hatton,  Joseph,  312,  322 
Haweis,  Rev.  H.  R.,  516,  523 


§06 


INDEX 


Hay,  Cecil,  74 

Hayward,   Abraham,   507 

Heber,  Reginald,  341 

Helbling,  James,  432 

Helps,  Sir  Arthur,  323 

Hobhouse,  Lord,  354 

Hodder,  George,  407 

Hogarth,  George,  432 

Hole,  Dean,  232,  233,  523 

Hollingshead,  John,  338,  554 

Home,  D.  D.,  168.  169 

Home  News,  304 

Honner,  Mrs.  R.,  21 

"  Honours  and  Tricks,"  59 

Hood,  Tom,  409 

"  Horace  for  the  Ladies,"  131 

Houghton,  Lord,  339 

Hughes,  Sir  F.,  473 

Hugo,  Victor,  494 

Huxley,  Thomas  H.,  323 

"  Hymn  to  St.  Trophimus,"  214 

Illustrated  London  News,  35,  46, 
143,  220,  331,  334,  401,  571,  572 

"  Imitation  Letters  from  Horace 
Walpole,"   427 

Ingram,  Herbert,  35,  46 

Inverness  Courier,  The,  66 

Irving,  Sir  Henry,  496,  540.  586 

Jackson,  Mrs.  Cresswick,  460 
James,  Edwin,  533,  567 

of  Hereford,  Lord.  568 

Jeaffreson,  John  Cordy,  38,   158 

Jennings,  Mr.  Sidney,  36 

Jerrold,  Blanchard,  31, 34,70, 96, 587 

,  Douglas,  46,  57.  94.  157 

Joachim,  Joseph,  322 
Johnson,  Dr.,  462 
Jones,  Ernest,  333,  334 

,  Mr.  Parry,  23 

,  Mrs.,  460 

Kavanagh,  a.  M..  323 
Kean,  Mrs.  Charles,  518.  556 
Keeley,  Robert,  336 

,  Mrs.,  53,  58,  80,  192,  327,  337 

Keene,  Charles.  65,  82,  94.  178,  203, 

273.  284,  310,  369.  392,  402,  405, 

407,  421,  447,  524,  538 
Kemble,  Charles.  450 
Kendal,  Mrs.,  338,  377,  508 
Kenney,  Charles,  46 
Kingsley,  Charles,  98,  182.  284.  539 
Knight.  Charles,  233,  323,  523 


Labouchere,  Mr.  Henry,  447,  536 

Landseer,  Charles,  314 

,  Sir  Edwin,  231,  343,  347.  350, 

470,  541 
Lawrence,  Lord,  441 
Layard,  Sir  Henry,  120,  323,  377 
Layton,  Mr.  G.  M.,  554 
Lee,  Henry,  258 
Leech,  John,  115,  136,  148,  165,  168, 

196,  204,  218-223,  398,  524,  588 
Leigh,  Percival,  52,  91,  92,  137.  166, 

167,  168,  195,  199,  210,  220,  222. 

225,  245,  273,  274,  281,  282,  294, 

307,  311,  318,  319,  320,  327,  365, 

399,  401    402,  405,  419,  455,  456. 

463.  465,  467,  474,  476,  478,  479. 

481,  482,  484,  490,  519,  532.  549, 

560.  565,  575,  580,  585 
Leighton,  Lord,  343,  347 
Leith,  Miss  Emily,  542 
Leland,  Mrs.,  434 
Lemon,    Miss    Betty    {see    Romer, 

Lady) 

,  Harry,  401 

,  Mark,  40,  57,   79,    101,    105, 

116,  117,  142,  167,  174,  182,  225, 

232,  235,  241,  247,  273,  283,  284, 

294,  299,  310,  325,  360,  361,  364, 

366,  395,  396-401,  409,  410,  446. 

452,  472,  477.  481 
Lewes,  George  Henry,  63 
Lewis,  Arthur,  231,  338 

,  Mrs.  Arthur,  298 

Levy,  Mr.  Albert,  327,  338 
"  Limericks,"  203 
Lincoln,  Abraham,  239-248 
Linton,  Mrs.  Lynn,  231,  323,  337, 

409.  435.  436,  451 
Literary  Gazette,  The,  161.  162,  163 
Livingstone,   David.   376 
London  Figaro,  The,  431 
Lome.  Marquis  of.  423 
Loseby.  Miss.  574 
Louise,  Princess,  423,  447 
Low.  Thomas.  338 
"  Lowther  Arcade,  The,"  59 
Lytton,  Lord,  371,  372,  373.  408. 

466 
Lucas,  Samuel.  164,  174,  222,  332 

Macaulay,  Kenneth,  337 

,  Lord,  166 

Macready.  W.  C,  543,  544 
Magee,  Bishop,  356,  407 


596 


INDEX 


Magician,  The,  59 

Maginn,  William,  28.  29 

Man    in    the    Moon,   The,    35,    42 

et  seq. 
Manning,   Archbishop,   346 
Marochetti,  Baron,  230 
Marryat,  Florence,  552 
Marshall,  Miss  Polly,  59 
Martineau,   Harriet,   183-187,  331 

,  Miss  Jane,  332 

Mathews.  Charles,  59.  236 
Matthews,  Miss  Ethel.  575 

,  Frank,  53 

,  Mrs.,  432 

,  Miss  "  Torie,"  71,  230,  305. 

391,  394,  403,  418,  421,  428,  430. 

437,  438,  443,  450,  457,  465,  507. 

508,  509,  513,  514,  515,  518,  521. 

522,  524.  525,  539,  544.  555,  568, 

570,  574,  575,  584 
Mayhew,  Henry,  57 
,    Horace,    40,    125,    127,    128, 

138,  139,  159,  194,  258,  294,  309, 

376,  402,  467,  516,  517 
Melbourne,  Lord,  185 
Meredith,  Mr.  George,  174,  176,  406 
Mill,  John  Stuart,  288 
Millais,  Sir  John.  220,  231,  284.  452. 

565 

,  Miss,  235 

Milner-Gibson,  Mrs.,  293 

"Miss  Violet  and  her  Offers,"  105, 124 

Monkbretton,  Lord,  515 

"  Morals  at  the  Academy,"  458 

Morgan,  Matt.,  296 

Morley,  Mr.  John,  323 

Morning  Chronicle,  The,  35,  48,  60 

et  seq.,  98 
Munro.  Alexander.  351,  356,  436 
Mtinro,  Mrs.,  351,  358 
Musical  World,  The,  219 
Murchison,  Sir  Roderick.  339,  376 
Murray.  Arthur,  432 

,  Granville,  357 

,  Henry  Leigh,  253  et  seq. 

,  Mrs.  H.  Leigh,  253  et  seq. 

.  John,  335 

"  Naggletons,  The,"  106  et  seq. 
Napoleon,  Emperor  Louis,  164,  165, 
168.  169,  417,  418,  419.  448,  527 
"  New  Governess,  The,"  59.  337 
Nicholas.  Emperor,   136 
Nilsson.  Christine,  381 


Nicholson,  J.  W.,  407 
Nubar  Pasha,  369 

Oakley,  Dean,  520,  531 

,  Miss,  520 

O'Connell,  Daniel.  435 

O'Hagan,  Lord,  408 

Once  a  Week,  18,  164,  170.  175,  222 

O'Neil,  W.,  258-267,  303 

Oppenheim,  Mrs.  (Miss  Frith),  493 

Osborne,  Sherard,  339,  375 

"  Oswald's  Well,"  19 

"  Oswestry,"  9  et  seq. 

"  Our  Flight  with  Punch."  43 

"  Our  Parting  Kick  to  1866,"  295 

Overend   &  Gurney,   Messrs..    335, 

336 
Owen,  Professor,  579 
Oxenford,  John,  63,  190.  517 

Paget,  Sir  James,  471,  557 
Pall  Mall  Gazette,  235,  390-572 
Pall  Mall  Magazine,  405 
Palmerston,    Lord.    183.    185,    271, 

272 
Panton.     Mrs.      [see     Frith,     Miss 

"  Sissy  ") 
Parkinson,  Mr.  J.  C.  258-267,  325 
Parry,  John,  191 
Peake,  Richard  Brinsley,  64 
Pemberton,  Kit,  433 
"  Pendennis,"  555 
Pender,  Sir  John,  350 
Phillip,  John.  408 

,  Sir  Benjamin,  590 

Plimsoll,  Samuel,  535 

Prinsep,  Val,   338 

Punch,  46.  100  et  seq. 

Punch  and  Judy,  375,  422 

"  Punch  Pocket-Book,"  83 

"  Punch's  Prophecy  for  the  Derby," 

354,  462 
"  Punch's  Essence  of  Parliament," 

3.  62,   118  et  seq..  393,  405,  442, 

510.  553,  556,  559 
Punch's   Great   Retractation.    241- 

248 
"  Punch's  Table  Talk."  270 
Pusey.  Dr.,  319 

Ralston,  Mr.  W.,  475,  525 
Ramsay,  Mr,  Andrew,  370 
Reach,  Angus  B..  41.  46,  63,  64.  65, 
77,  124 


597 


INDEX 


Reade,  Charles,  174.  176,  407,  534 
Reed,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  German,   191, 

323,  378,  523 
Rees.  Owen,  573,  582,  586 
Reeves,  Sims,  330 
Renter,  Baron,  150 
Richards,   Brinley,   272-460 
Richmond,  Duke  of,  553 
Ritchie,  Mrs..  158,  178,  179.  206 
Roberts.  Mr.  Askew.  16 
Robertson,  T.  W.,  442 
Robinso  I,  Sir  J.  R..  331 
Romer,  Lady.  175 
,  Mrs.  Frank  {see  Rowe,  Mrs. 

Jopling) 
Rossa,  O' Donovan,  379 
Rossini,  G.  A.,  347,  348,  353 
Rousby,  Mrs..  73,  406,  460 
Rowe,  Mrs.  Jopling,  69,  80,  88,  97, 

312-318,  329,  333,  343,  344,  347, 

362,  363-364,  368,  369,  373,  382, 

384,  393,  394,  406,  409,  414,  452, 

453,  468,  469,  487 
Ruskin,  John,  144 
Russell,  Lord,  357 

of  Killowen,  Lord,  407 

,  Sir  William  Howard,  61.  422, 

430.  526,  571 
"  Russians  in  the  South,  The,"  63 

Sabine,  Charles,  8  et  seq.,  396 

,  Margaret,   17 

,  William,   1 

St.  Albans,  Duke  of,  553 

Sala.  George  Augustus,  40,  46,  251 

304,  322,  337,  349.  352,  590 
Salaman.  Charles,  78 
Salmon,  Edward,  304 
Sambourne,  Mr.   Linley,    119,   329, 

456,  467,  476,  500,  559,  576,  581 
Sandon,   Lord,  381 
Saturday  Review,  The.  60,  296,  415, 

525 
Schumann,  Clara,   182 
Scott,  Clement,  435 

,  Sir  Walter,  472 

Seaman,  Mr.  Owen,  101 
Selborne,  Lord.  566 
Shaftesbury,  Lord,  435 
Shah  of  Persia,  the,  547-549 
Shakespeare,  William,  208  et  seq. 
"  Shave  you  Directly,"  59 
Shee,  Mr.  Justice.  230 
Shirley,  James,  38 


Shirley,  Laurence,  2-38 

Sibson,  Dr.,  472 

"  Silver  Cord,  The."  170  et  seq. 

Silver.  Mr.  Henry.  55.  62.  75.  76, 

82.  85.  87,  113-116,  121,  127,  165. 

177,  178,  192,  194,  199.  204.  212, 

223,  273,  283,  309,  353,  360 
Simpson,  Palgrave,  443 
Sketchley,  Arthur,  405,  434 
Sloper,  Lindsay,  328 
Smith.  Albert,  41.  46.  55,  57.  443 

,  Mrs.  Albert.  57,  407 

,  Sydney,  1 

Somerville,  Mrs.,  185 
Sooner  or  Later,  197,  216.  307 
Sothern,  E.  A.,  302,  326,  508 

,  Mrs..  330 

Soult.  "Marshal,  436 

Spielmann.  Mr.  M.   H.,  40,  64,  78, 

101,  111,  116,  119,  136,  244,  293. 

450,  468,  481.  585 
Spurgeon.  C.  H.,  143,  144 
Spurgin,  Dr.  John,  231 
Stacy,  George,  436 
Stanley,  Sir  H.  M.,  518 
"  Starvation  Parties,"  209 
Stebbing,  Rev.  Henry,  431 
Stephen.  Leslie.   408,  524 
Stirling,  Mrs.,  59,  236,  337 
"  Story  with  a  Vengeance,  A,"  65, 

124 
Stowe,  Mrs.  Beecher.  335,  361 
Sullivan.  Sir  Arthur,  322 
Sussex,  Duke  of,  339 
Swain,  Mr.  Joseph,  475 
Swinbourne,  Mr.  Algernon,  562 

"  Table  Book,  The,"  39 

Tait,  Archbishop,   284 

,  Mr.  C.  J.,  71 

Talfourd,  Mr.  Justice,   19 

Taylor,  Tom,  45,  57.  94.  101.  182. 
243,  245,  247.  251,  294,  359,  377, 
405.  408.  423.  450.  467,  527,  546 

Tenniel.  Sir  John,  94.  119,  143,  156. 
165.  171.  176.  182,  223,  242,  245, 
273,  294.  324.  329.  360.  393,  405, 
417,  426,  449.  476,  500,  545,  547. 
576,  580 

Tennyson,  Lord.  154,  243,  284 

Tenterden,  Lord,  407 

Terry.  Miss  Ellen,   182 

.   Miss   Kate   {see  Lewis.   Mrs. 

Arthur) 


INDEX 


Thackeray,  W.  M.,  43,  44,  75,  79, 

158,  177,  178,  194,  205,  206.  546. 

555,   588 
Thomas,  Mr.  George,  71 
Thompson.  Sir  Henry,  383-389,  420, 

581 
Tichborne    Case,    The,     456,     457, 

468.  484,  510,  549 
"  Timour  the  Tartar,"  190 
Tomahawk,  The,  296 
Toole,  J.,  435,  537,  538,  547 
Trollope,  Anthony,  526,  545,  568 
"  True  Story  of  Punch,  The."  309 
Tucker,  Marwood,  342 
Twain,  Mark,  182 
Twiss,  Quentin,  302 

Venning,  Mr.,  228 
Vestris,  Madame,  59,  494 
Victoria,  Queen,  209,  359,  375,  448, 

571 
"  Victoria's  Midday  Review,"  169, 

170 
Vizetelly,  Henry,  408 
Vogue,  A.,  212 
Voules,  Mr.  Horace,  576 

Walkinshaw,  W.  B.,  129 
"  Wallace  Wight,"  367.  371 


Ward,  Artemus.  281,  282.  290 

,  E.  M.,  434 

Warren,  Samuel,  231,  237 
Warner,  Mrs.,  72,  362 
Webster,  Benjamin,  238,  322 
Weguelin,  Christopher,  182 
Wellington,  Duke  of,  376.  450.  562 
Westbury,  Lord,  359 
Whalley,  G.  H.,  497 
Wharncliffe,  Lord,  551 
Whistler,  James  McNeill,  333 
Wigan,  Mrs.,  236 
Wigwam,  The,  53,  59 
Williams,  Mr.  Justice,  231 

,  Montagu,  80,  328 

Wills,  Sir  Alfred,  573 

Wit  and  Humour,  52 

"  Woman  in  White,  The,"  495 

Wood,  Mrs.  H.,  524 

,  Mrs.  John,  58 

,  Mrs.  Tom,  407 

Woolner,  Thomas,  154 
Wright,  A.  B.,  304 
,  E.  R..  436 

Yates,  Edmund,  1,  29,  38,  45,  69, 
78,  81,  238,  274,  302,  337.  338, 
523,  542.  567,  576 

Young,  Charles  Mayne,  21 


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